Riyadh: After a three-month gap, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has overtaken Russia by a narrow margin to become India’s second-biggest supplier of oil behind Iraq in August 2022.
According to the data from industrial and commercial sources, 863,950 barrels per day of crude were shipped from Saudi Arabia to India, the third largest importer and consumer of oil in the world, up 4.8 per cent from the previous month, while purchases from Russia fell 2.4 per cent to 855,950 barrels per day.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s rise, the share of oil from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to India fell to 59.8 per cent, the lowest in at least 16 years as India cut imports from Africa.
UAE remained India’s fourth largest oil supplier, while Kazakhstan displaced Kuwait to become fifth followed by the United States.
India is the second largest buyer of Russian oil
India became the second largest buyer of Russian oil after China, after others reduced their purchases following the outbreak of the Russian special operation in Ukraine in late February.
Reuters reported that, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security organization.
India’s monthly imports of Russian oil continue to decline after hitting a record in June, as Moscow scaled back cuts offered to its oil.
