India cuts Russian seaborne oil imports on refinery maintenance

India’s imports of Russian crude oil fell in October after works at a major refinery, according to data from Kpler.

Shipments from Russia to its biggest buyer of seaborne crudes fell to an average of 1.58 million barrels a day last month, down 11% from September, the data showed. Reliance Industries Ltd. bought the least crude since September 2022 because of scheduled maintenance at several units of its Jamnagar plant.  

India, along with China, has been a key buyer of Russian grades shunned by many developed nations over the war in Ukraine, and has looked to benefit from discounted prices to boost refinery margins. The decline may just be a blip, with imports from Russia set to rise this month to about 1.8 million barrels a day, according to Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler. 

Total shipments into India rose 6% in October to 4.4 million barrels a day, as several processing facilities came out of planned maintenance. Imports from Saudi Arabia almost doubled as state refiners adjusted their monthly volumes from the kingdom to meet annual purchase obligations under term deals, surpassing deliveries from Iraq.

There are 10 Russian tankers carrying 11 million barrels scheduled to discharge in the first three days of this month alone, according to Katona.