NEW DELHI: OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports fell at the fastest pace in 2022-23 to the lowest in at least 22 years, as intake of cheaper Russian oil surged, data obtained from industry sources show, and the major producers’ share could shrink further this year.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), mainly from the Middle East and Africa, saw their share of India’s oil market slide to 59% in the fiscal year to March 2023, from about 72% in 2021-22, a Reuters analysis of the data that dates back to 2001-02 showed.
Russia overtook Iraq for the first time to emerge as the top oil supplier to India, pushing Saudi Arabia down to No. 3 in the last fiscal year, the data showed.
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