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India’s Crude Imports Up 10% In Apr-Oct Amid Tariff Cloud; US Share Rises, Russia Trims
India’s petroleum crude imports grew by 10.3% year-on-year to 1.15 billion barrels in April-October of this financial year, according to an analysis of data shared by the commerce ministry. This was on the back of strong economic activity and softer crude prices.
India, in the same period last year, had imported 1.04 billion barrels of crude.
The value of crude imports fell 4.3% year-on-year to $82.9 billion, driven by lower prices. This came despite higher volumes in the first seven months of this financial year. Analysts expect this trend to continue through the rest of the financial year, supported by healthy global supply and moderate demand.
While Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the US, which are the top five crude suppliers, accounted for 83.6% of India’s total crude imports in the ongoing financial year, a slight decrease from 83.7% compared to last year.
Russia remained India’s largest crude oil supplier, the market share reduced as refiners diversified purchases to avoid tightening US and EU sanctions on Russian barrels. In the first seven months, Russia had a market share of 33.4%, lower than the 38.7% in the same period last year.
Moscow shipped 1.69 million barrels of crude in October, having a market share of 32.2%.
Notably, India is facing 25% punitive tariffs from the US for its purchase of Russian oil, in addition to 25% so-called reciprocal tariffs. This takes the cumulative levy on Indian imports to 50%.
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