Saudi oil imports in Sept plunge to multi-year low

INDIA'S OIL IMPORTS from Saudi Arabia in September slumped to a multi-year low of around 5,00,000 barrels per day (bpd), most likely due to Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) impending maintenance shutdown of some units at its Jamnagar refinery complex and Saudi Arabian crudes becoming relatively more expensive than competing grades in the wake of production cuts by Riyadh, according to commodity market analytics and intelligence firm Kpler.

- SUKALP SHARMA

So far in September, India's oil imports from Saudi Arabia have averaged at 4,99,688 bpd, the lowest since November of 2014, as per Kpler data. In August, India's Saudi Arabian oil imports stood at 8,28,486 bpd, while in September 2022, they were around 8,80,000 bpd. Between January 2022 and August 2023, the import volumes averaged at over 7,50,000 bpd. Currently, Saudi Arabia is the third-biggest supplier of crude oil to India, behind Russia, the top supplier, and Iraq. Traditionally, Riyadh used to be New Delhi's secondbiggest source of crude after Baghdad. But after the war in Ukraine broke out, Russia displaced Iraq and Saudi Arabia as India's largest oil supplier by offering deep discounts on its crude.