India’s Russian oil imports at record high in January

India’s Russian oil imports jumped to record 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up 9.2 percent from December, as Moscow still the top seller on a monthly basis for oil to New Delhi, data from trade sources showed on Friday.

In January, Russian oil rose to record about 27 percent of the five million bpd of crude imported by India, the third largest importer and consumer of oil in the world, the data showed.

India’s oil imports usually rise in December and January as state-run refineries avoid shutdowns for maintenance in the first quarter to meet annual production targets set by the government.

India’s refiners have become a major customer for Russian oil, seizing on a lower price after Western countries shied away from it since the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Canada became India’s fifth largest oil supplier in January after the UAE, according to the data. India’s imports of Iraqi oil rose in January to the highest level in seven-month, recording 983,000 bpd, up 11 percent from December.

Noteworthy, that members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) saw their share in India’s crude imports shrinking to 64.5 percent in 2022, Reuters analysis of the data showed.