India turns to Latin America, Africa to replace lost oil supplies from Persian Gulf
India is diversifying its sources of oil imports in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz closure and US waivers on purchases of Russian oil
Indian oil refiners have increasingly turned to Latin America and Africa to replace supplies lost from West Asia due to the US-Israeli war on Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, The Economic Times reported on 25 May, citing industry data.
In April and May, Indian refiners imported greater volumes of oil from Venezuela, Brazil, Angola, and Nigeria to fill the gap left by lost supplies, preliminary data from Kpler shows.
India also began purchasing Russian and Iranian oil after the US Treasury issued waivers allowing purchases of oil from nations under Washington's sanctions.
Refiners in India – the world's third-largest oil importer – imported most of their crude from West Asia before the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February.
Imports from Gulf states, in particular Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, collapsed as these countries rely entirely on exporting oil using vessels transiting Hormuz.
After the closure of the strategic waterway to the US and Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia redirected much of their exports via pipelines to bypass the strait.
Imports to India from the UAE fell to 230,600 barrels per day (bpd) in March but rebounded to 669,700 bpd in April.
Saudi oil imports held steady at about 619,500 bpd from the beginning of the war, the data showed.
The US had previously warned India against purchasing Russian oil and threatened to impose tariffs on India as punishment for doing so last year.
However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the waivers on Russian and Iranian oil after the start of the war in a bid to keep oil prices from rising even further.
Overall, India imported 4.57 million bpd of oil from all sources in April, some 15.7 percent less than the same month last year, according to the data.
India's share of imports from OPEC countries rose to 45 percent in April after falling to just about 30 percent in March.
In May, India will purchase 1.9 million bpd of Russian oil, making Moscow the country's top supplier, preliminary data from Kpler showed.
The UAE remains New Delhi's second largest supplier, while Saudi Arabia ranks third. Brazil was the fourth-largest, and Venezuela the fifth, according to the data.
Meanwhile, India's state-owned fuel retailers increased fuel prices for the fourth time since the start of the war, by 2.71 rupees ($0.0283) per liter for diesel and 2.61 rupees ($0.027) per liter for petrol, Reuters reported on Monday. The hikes have been implemented to recoup some losses driven by higher crude prices resulting from the war.
Indian state fuel retailers, including Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., and Hindustan Petroleum Corp., control 90 percent of the market. They have raised the prices of diesel by about 8.6 percent and petrol by about 7.8 percent since the war began.
New Delhi has also introduced austerity measures to curb fuel consumption and preserve foreign currency used to purchase imported goods.