Saudi overtakes Russia to be India’s No 2 oil supplier in August

Saudi Arabia emerged as the second-biggest oil supplier to India after a three-month gap, overtaking Russia by a thin margin, while Iraq retained the top spot in August, data from industry and trade sources showed.

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 863,950 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Saudi Arabia, up 4.8 per cent from the previous month, while purchases from Russia fell 2.4 per cent to 855,950 bpd, the data showed.

Despite Saudi’s gain, the share of oil from Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in India fell to 59.8 per cent, the lowest in at least 16 years as India cut African imports.