India’s steady appetite for Russian crude lifts Jan inflows to record high

India’s appetite for Russian crude oil in January rose to unseen levels, continuing to remain above traditional middle eastern suppliers for the fourth month in a row, as refiners rushed to snap up plentiful cargoes available at a discount to other grades.

From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India’s import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia’s share of India’s imports rose to 1.27 million barrels per day in January, taking a 28 per cent share, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.

India, the world’s third-largest crude importer after China and the United States,