India’s import of crude oil touches record high in April

Higher “Mideast and Russian volumes” displaced “cargoes from further afield, such as the US, Canada and West Africa”, S&P Global said in a report.

Iraq remained the top supplier, with a combined 1.2 million barrels a day. Strong West Asia arrivals offset volumes from West Africa and the US, it added. A strong Brent-Dubai exchange-of-futures-for-swaps in the start of the year due to surging Brent futures prompted refiners from India to turn towards Dubai-pegged crudes from the Middle East, which rose to a record 73% in April, from 69% in March and 67% in February, it said.

As of 9 May, almost 10 million barrels of crude from Russia, including 970,000 barrels of Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend, arrived in India in April, it said. Another 16 vessels with 13 million barrels are expected to arrive within four weeks. This includes one cargo each of CPC Blend and Siberian Light and the remaining comprising Urals, iit added.

“A rebound in domestic demand as well as stronger oil product exports likely spurred India’s crude import volumes. Refiners were highly attracted to discounts for Russian-origin cargoes and India has been a major alternative destination for Urals crude that would typically have been sold to refiners in Europe,” Yen Ling Song, associate director, S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.