NEW DELHI: Russia accounted for nearly 40% of India’s crude oil imports in February 2023, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA in its monthly report said that India and China remained the top buyers of Russian oil during the month, with the two countries accounting for 70% of Russian oil exports last month.
However, Russia’s oil exports fell 500,000 barrels a day to 7.5 million barrels a day as the EU restrictions kicked in in February. The monthly report, which was released on Wednesday, also highlighted that Russia’s oil export revenue fell to the lowest following the price cap imposed on its crude export by the G7 countries but it found an alternative market.
The country increased its crude export to Africa, Türkey and the Middle East. In February 2023, exports to Asia grew by less than 300 thousand barrels per day (Kb/d). Shipments to Africa, Türkey and the Middle East rose by 300 kb/d, 240 kb/d and 175 kb/d, respectively, while Latin America received roughly the same as before the Ukraine war. In a bid to stop Russia from making a profit on crude, a key source of its revenue, western countries had put a price cap on its oil export.
They imposed ceilings on the price of Russian crude oil and refined products to stop the country from “funding the war”. Following this move, as per the IEA, Russia’s oil export revenue fell to its lowest in February. Russia’s estimated oil export revenues fell to $11.6 billion, down 42% from a year ago. Exports to China and India also declined, while cargoes without a destination surged by 600 kb/d to 800 kb/d.
“While Russian oil production remained near pre-war levels in February, Russia’s exports to world markets tumbled by more than 500 kb/d (thousand barrels per day) to 7.5 mb/d (million barrels per day),” reads the report. “It remains to be seen if there will be a sufficient appetite for Russian oil products now,” said IEA in a report.