Indian refiners saved at least $7.17 billion in foreign exchange in the 14 months that ended May 2023 by ramping up purchases of discounted Russian crude oil following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, an analysis of India’s trade data for the period shows.
India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil, depends on imports to meet over 85 per cent of its oil needs. With Western buyers cutting oil imports from Russia in the wake of its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been offering discounts on its crude. Indian refiners have been lapping up these discounted barrels, so much so that Russia, which used to be a marginal player in India’s oil trade, is now New Delhi’s biggest oil supplier.
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