New Delhi: Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia have hit their highest ranges since Nov 2019, clocking almost 1-1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in Feb, and overtaking Russia briefly to emerge as the most important provider to India.In accordance with knowledge shared by Kpler, a world knowledge and analytics service supplier, crude imports from the West Asian nation peaked at 1.3 million barrels on Feb 20 (Friday), eclipsing Russian provides of about 1.1 mbd. Saudi Arabia has persistently held the third or fourth place in India’s crude import basket over the previous couple of years, with Russia remaining on prime and Iraq and the UAE occupying the opposite two spots.
Crude buy from Saudi
The latest surge has considerably narrowed the hole between Riyadh and Moscow that widened after India ramped up Russian oil purchases following the Ukraine invasion. The numbers come amid mounting stress from the US to scale back Russian crude purchases.“We count on some moderation within the coming weeks, with just a few parcels possible slipping into early March. On a full-month foundation, our predictive flows mannequin presently signifies Saudi imports averaging nearer to 1-1.1 mbd in Feb, nonetheless a multi-year excessive,” stated Sumit Ritolia, lead analysis analyst at Kpler. He stated Russian crude imports are anticipated to be 1-1.2 mbd in Feb and will fall to 0.8-1 mbd a day in subsequent month. “Nevertheless, we proceed to see this as a short-term stabilisation... we count on Russia’s share in India’s crude slate to steadily stabilise at a decrease vary in 2026 in comparison with 2024 and 2025 as industrial and coverage frictions construct,” he stated. The analyst added Russian imports are anticipated to dip additional in April as Nayara’s Vadinar refinery, closely depending on Russian crude following EU sanctions, is scheduled for upkeep in April-Might.