Supplies of Russian oil to India hit a nine-month high in April, according to Reuters.
The report said that Indian refiners bought 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude last month, marking an 8.2 percent jump in the South Asian nation's shipments from its long-time strategic partner in March.
The significant rise in shipments of crude took Russia's share in India's oil basket to 38 percent from 32 percent in the previous month.
Though India's oil imports from Russia have remained robust for over two years, Western media outlets have
predicted that oil purchases from Moscow will fall, almost every month.
Arpit Chandna, an energy specialist at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) company Refinitiv, explained that it was well known that during any unrest in the Middle East, crude oil from Russia rises in price due to uncertainty in supplies coming from other oil-rich regions.
Chandna believes that lack of excess crude oil storage in Russia will result in more exports in coming weeks. That is likely to dent the commitment of the OPEC+ production agreement to cut exports in the first quarter of 2024, he stressed.
India has repeatedly stated that Russian oil is one of the main contributors to fuelling its economy. But the West continues to put pressure on New Delhi to sever
its time-tested relations with Moscow — which looks like an attempt to create friction between India and Russia over oil supplies.
However, trade relations between the two countries remain strong and mutually supportive, Chandna argued.
Since February 2002 European states have switched from Russia to Middle Eastern oil exporters — who were previously India's main suppliers. India has consequently turned to Russia to avoid paying higher prices for crude in competition with Europe.
Despite EU and G7 ban in Dec 2022, oil exports from Russia are not limited to pipeline supplies, Chandna revealed. He mentioned that the crude shipments
are coming by sea to Bulgaria and via pipeline to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
By comparison, China bought nearly 53 percent of Russia's crude exports, followed by India (32 percent), the EU (7 percent) and Turkiye (5 percent) since December 2022, the commodities trader highlighted.
India has more than 85 percent dependency on imports for its crude oil needs, making its economy price-sensitive. While Russian price discounts are shrinking, the higher import volume availability is leading to significant savings for buyers like India, the expert concluded.