World India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer and importer, bought crude oil worth $2.8 billion from Russia in July. In this respect, India is second only to China, which remains the largest importer of Russian oil. According to a report, Russia has emerged as the largest supplier of crude oil to India. This oil is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries. Russian oil was available at a discount after some European countries refrained from buying from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Crude oil imports from Russia were less than one percent of the total imported oil before the Ukraine war.
About 40 percent of India’s total oil purchases
This has now increased to nearly 40 per cent of India’s total oil purchases. The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report that China bought 47 per cent of Russia’s crude oil exports, followed by India (37 per cent), the European Union (seven per cent) and Turkmenistan (six per cent). Not just oil, China and India also bought coal from Russia. According to the report, “From December 5, 2022 to the end of July, 2024, China bought 45 per cent of Russia’s total coal exports, followed by India (18 per cent). Turkmenistan (10 per cent), South Korea (10 per cent) and Taiwan (five per cent) are the top five buyers.”
Big savings in the country’s oil import bill
According to an ICRA report, the price of oil imports from Russia was 16.4 per cent and 15.6 per cent lower than the corresponding levels from Gulf countries in the 11 months of FY23 and FY24, respectively. India’s strategy of continuing to buy cheaper oil from Russia has resulted in savings of about $7.9 billion in the country’s oil import bill during the first 11 months of FY2022-23 and has also helped the country reduce its current account deficit. Since India is the third largest importer of crude oil in the world, these large purchases of Russian oil have also helped keep prices in the world market at a more reasonable level, which has also benefited other countries.
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