The purchases of Russian crude oil by India remained on a higher levels as it reached a fresh record in July for the second straight month. As per the data
compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India imported Russian crude worth 5.5 billion euros in July, a 2.1 per cent increase over June in terms of the import volumes rather than the value of shipments. In June, the Russian crude made up 87 per cent of India's total fossil fuel imports from Russia. India had imported Russian crude worth 4.5 billion euros, which was around 83 per cent of its overall Russian fossil fuel imports, which totalled 5.5 billion euros. Notably, the US sanctions waiver on Russian crude has expired. However, a fresh tariff threat of up to 100% looms. A data from the US Energy Information Administration said Russia supplied fewer than 1,00,000 barrels per day of crude to India in 2021, accounting for around 2.5 per cent of the country's crude imports. The figure climbed to about 7,40,000 barrels per day in 2022 before rising to nearly 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, when Russia became India's largest crude supplier with a 39 per cent share of total imports.
India diversifies import sources:
The minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Suresh Gopi, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, said India has widened the energy import sources amid the West Asia crisis that led to severe disruptions in the supply chain via Strait of Hormuz.
The country, which is dependent on external sources for its oil needs said it has sharply widened its energy import base, sourcing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 15 countries, up from six, and crude oil from 41 countries, compared with 27 earlier, as per government's statement to Rajya Sabha.
Further, the government is also expanding its ability to hold crude domestically as the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd currently operates three storage facilities in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with a combined capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes.
