India biggest refined fuel supplier to Europe in April

NEW DELHI:  India became the largest supplier of refined fuel to Europe in April 2023 as the country exported nearly 406 kbd (thousand barrels per day) to European countries in the month, as per energy cargo tracker Vortexa.  

Besides India, Russia is the second-biggest exporter of refined oil to Europe as it exported 365 kbd, followed by Saudi Arabia 352 kbd, Kuwait 211 kbd and the USA 181 kbd in April 2023. Private oil firms exported all refined products as state-owned firms drew a blank. “India exported about 1.38 mbd of refined products (incl. both clean and dirty products) in May 2023. The top destination countries it exported to are Australia, the UAE and Singapore. Reliance, from its Jamnagar refineries, is the top exporter of refined crude,” said Serena Huang, an analyst at Vortexa.

Europe’s dependence on India for fuel supply increased manifold after the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Following the war, European countries which were largely dependent on imports from Russia, reduced their reliance on Russian oil and gas. The western countries announced several sanctions on the export of Russian crude. However, Russia has diversified its supply, and India and China became the largest importer of its crude. India emerged as a major market for Russia in FY23, as the latter offered steep price discounts on crude.

As per Vortexa, India imported Russian crude 1678 kdb in April and 1,960 kbd in May 2023. From among its traditional suppliers, India imported 839kbd from Iraq, 560 kbd from Saudi Arabia and 203 kbd from UAE.