India's Feb crude oil imports from Russia hit record high

For the fifth consecutive month, Russia remained the biggest provider of crude oil to India, accounting for over 33% of all the oil imported by India, which is later converted into diesel and petrol at refineries, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.

Refineries are still purchasing abundant cargoes of Russian oil that are available at a lower price compared to other types of crude oil.

Russia’s share in India’s import basket jumped to 35 percent this February at 1.62 million barrels per day from just 1 percent before US sanctions hit Russia after the Ukraine war started in February 2022.

Vortexa reports that Russia's oil supply to India now exceeds the combined supply from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which have been India's primary oil suppliers for many years.

In February, Iraq supplied 939,921 barrels per day of oil to India, while Saudi Arabia supplied 647,813 barrels per day.

Meanwhile, Russia's oil supply to India was 1.62 million barrels per day.

UAE has surpassed the US to become India's fourth-largest oil supplier, providing 404,570 barrels per day, while the US supplied 248,430 barrels per day in February, down from 399,914 barrels per day in January.