NEW DELHI: India’s imports of oil from Iraq surged in January to a 29-month high of about 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), making up nearly a third of the supplies to Asia’s third largest economy, data from shipping and industry sources show.
Iraq’s importance as a key supplier is set to grow this year as at least two Indian refiners have increased their annual oil import deals with the second biggest OPEC producer.
India imported 4.6 million bpd of oil in January, a decline of about 1% from the previous month and about 3% from the year earlier, data compiled by Reuters showed. Imports from Iraq were the highest since Aug. 2019.
From April 2021 through January 2022, the first 10 months of this fiscal year, India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 4.2 million bpd of oil, up 6.5% from a year ago, as refiners raised runs to meet rising fuel demand.
