India has imported higher volumes of crude oil from the Persian Gulf than from Russia so far in November, for the first time since the Iran war broke out and disrupted the normal supply chain through the Strait of Hormuz.
So far this month, India is estimated to have imported about 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from the Persian Gulf, compared to 1.8 million bpd flows from Russia, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing data by Kpler.
This is yet another sign that Strait of Hormuz flows have materially recovered in recent weeks, thanks to ship-to-ship (STS) transfers that have moved closer to India’s coastlines amid congestion in the Gulf of Oman and fears of attacks on tankers close to the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the Iran war, India’s total crude oil imports via Hormuz averaged about 2.8 million bpd. In the early months of the now nine-month-long war, flows from the Persian Gulf to India crumbled to as low as 247,000 bpd in April, when the Strait was closed to almost any traffic.
Russia remains a key crude oil supplier to India, but the rebound in Hormuz flows and the shorter distance to India have boosted Indian imports of crude oil from the Gulf producers.
Last month, the waters outside the Strait of Hormuz were so overcrowded with ship-to-ship transfers to keep oil flowing out of the Gulf that the STS operations started to expand into India’s West Coast.
The Gulf of Kutch, which opens towards the Arabian Sea facing the Gulf of Oman, has become another point of STS for the Gulf oil producers. The Middle Eastern oil exporters look to keep their supplies to Asian markets flowing, despite increased risks to tanker journeys in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the end of October, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), one of the biggest Indian state-owned refiners, said it would reduce its purchases of crude oil from Russia in November as high freight costs and premiums for Russia’s crude undermine the attractiveness of Moscow’s oil compared to multiple offers for Middle Eastern crude, whose prices are falling.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Related Stories
