India’s appetite for cheap Russian oil took a breather in August as monsoon rains reduced demand and refineries scheduled routine maintenance work.
The world’s No. 3 oil consumer cut imports from Moscow for a third straight month in August to 1.57 million barrels a day, down 24% on the month and taking them to their lowest level since January , according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Indian refiners also cut shipments from Iraq, another major supplier, by 10% in August to 848,000 bpd. Some of those volumes were offset by a sharp increase in imports from Saudi Arabia, which rose 63% on the month to 852,000 barrels per day, the data showed.
India’s consumption of Russian crude has soared since last year, peaking at 2.15 million bpd in May, as refiners competed for deeply discounted shipments.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., whose unit has a capacity of 301,000 barrels per day, cut imports by two-thirds. Reliance Industries’ purchases fell to 1.1 million bpd from the usual average of 1.2-1.3 million bpd as it plans to shut down a crude distillation unit in September, said Viktor Katona, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler.
India’s overall crude imports, which fell 7% in August to 4.35 million barrels per day, are likely to pick up from October as product demand picks up pace in the fourth quarter and there will be no large-scale maintenance in India. the following months, Katona added.
