India’s crude oil imports climb 16% in September

India's crude oil imports surged 16% in September compared to the previous month, totaling 22.26 million metric tons, according to recent government data. This figure marked a 9% increase from September 2022, when 20.35 million tons were imported, as per the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell's records. However, oil product imports dropped slightly by 0.8% from August but saw a significant decline of around 40% compared to September 2022.

Conversely, product exports surged more than 6% year-on-year to 5.22 million tons. The rise in imports is primarily attributed to the return of Middle Eastern crude barrels and a decrease in Russian oil volumes, indicating a normalization of India's crude oil mix as Gulf supply availability rebounds, stated Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.

Russian oil imports to India plummeted by 13.7% from August to approximately 1.8 million barrels per day in September, accounting for roughly one-third of all purchases, based on trade source data released earlier this week. India's fuel consumption rose by 3.9% from August to 19.26 million metric tons in September, according to earlier data.

Meanwhile, LPG imports increased to 1.40 million tons in September from 1.30 million tons in August, while fuel oil imports plummeted nearly 99% year-on-year to just 0.01 million tons in September, down from 0.69 million tons a year earlier. This report was produced with the assistance of AI technology and subsequently reviewed by an editor. For further details, readers can refer to the provided Terms and Conditions.