India's imports of Russian crude fell 20 per cent sequentially in April to 1.57 million barrels per day, reflecting a tempering of the surge in March, which was marked by floating cargoes amid the Iran war and a temporary US sanctions waiver. April arrivals were also hit by loading disruptions at a key Russian terminal after a Ukrainian attack.

Indian Oil Corp remained the largest buyer of Russian crude in both March and April. Its imports averaged 670,000 barrels per day between April 1 and 26, accounting for about 42 per cent of India's total Russian purchases and about 2.5 times Reliance Industries' intake of 263,000 bpd, according to Kpler data. In March, Indian Oil imported 589,000 bpd.

Other buyers in April included BPCL (136,000 bpd), HPCL (83,000 bpd), MRPL (68,000 bpd), HMEL (66,000 bpd) and Nayara Energy (28,000 bpd), while buyers of about 262,000 bpd remain unclear. Nayara's imports fell sharply from 315,000 bpd in March as the Rosneft-backed refiner undertook a 35-day maintenance shutdown starting April 9.The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March prompted Indian refiners to tap readily available floating Russian cargoes in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere to offset Gulf supply losses, triggering a spike in imports, said Nikhil Dubey, senior research analyst at Kpler.

India imported nearly 2 million bpd in March, well above the 1.3 million bpd of India-bound cargoes loaded in February at Russian ports, aided by floating supplies. Russian shipments typically take about a month to arrive, and February loadings were lower due to US sanctions that curtailed India's orders. Loadings in March were around 1.5 million bpd, which translated into similar arrivals at Indian ports in April as most idle floating cargoes had already been absorbed, said Dubey.

Ukrainian attacks on a Russian Baltic Sea terminal in March also disrupted loadings, he added. Almost all Indian refiners-except Numaligarh Refinery-are now sourcing Russian crude, up from just three-Indian Oil, Nayara and BPCL-in January, when US sanctions on key Russian exporters had deterred buyers. Reliance resumed imports in February.

Source: ET Energyworld. Com 

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