MUMBAI: India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil and revived alternate supplies from Africa, Iran and Venezuela to blunt a sharp crude shortfall from the crisis-ridden Middle East, analysts say.
India, the world´s third-largest oil buyer, normally sources about half of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that has seen only a trickle of traffic since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.
India´s heavy import dependence, combined with modest oil reserves compared with major consumers like China, has prompted analysts to warn that India could be among the most vulnerable to a sudden oil price hike.
But while India is grappling with disruptions to cooking gas supplies, it has so far avoided the petrol shortages that have hit some neighbouring nations.
Ship tracking and import data show that India has partially plugged the gap by turning to old allies, expanding promising ties and reviving suppliers it had not tapped in years.
The biggest backstop has been Russian crude -- a fuel source New Delhi spent much of the past year trying to pivot away from under stiff US tariffs. Indian refiners imported an average of nearly 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) from Russia in March, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler -- a sharp jump from the previous two months.
Analysts say the surge was likely aided by a temporary US waiver granted in March covering Russian oil already at sea.
“Imports rose from approximately one million bpd in January and February,” said Nikhil Dubey, an analyst at Kpler.
“This near?doubling suggests that this additional volume was likely contracted following the sanction waiver,” he told AFP.
India likely purchased an additional 60 million barrels of Russian oil that will be delivered through April, two trade analysts said.
Washington´s exemptions have drawn criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who says they complicate efforts to choke off Russia´s revenues more than four years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But Kyiv gained little leverage after US President Donald Trump last week extended the waiver on Russian seaborne oil by another month.
“The extension gives Indian refiners the runway they urgently needed,” said Rahul Choudhary, vice?president at Rystad Energy.
