The West has just imposed tough new rules on buying Russian oil. But as the measures come into force, India has been snapping up more Russian crude than ever before. Since the cap was imposed, one tanker a day has sailed out of Russian ports heading towards India’s west coast. That works out to about 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd). That’s up by almost 50 per cent from October and November, which were already record-breaking months.
“December will be the highest level (of Russian oil imports ever by India) and January might be even higher than December,” says Viktor Katona, Crude Analysis co-head at analytics firm Kpler. “The amount of actual buying that the Indian refiners are doing is just mind- boggling,” Katona said.
Traditionally, India has always bought its oil from giant producers like Iraq and Saudi Arabia which are only five-to-six sailing days away from India. But after the Russia-Ukraine war erupted, India became a huge buyer of Russian oil as it cashed in on discounts offered by sanctions-hit Moscow.
