Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, India’s crude oil imports have remained close to record-high levels in July despite the end of the U.S. waiver the previous month. The U.S. quietly let the waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on June 17, just as the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal. Yet, Indian imports of Russian crude has continued to flow in July, many of which may have been cargoes that were arranged during the window covered by the U.S. waiver. So India’s imports of crude oil from Russia have averaged 2.45 million barrels per day (bpd) so far this month, according to data by Kpler cited by Indian media. The July imports from Russia are not far off the record high level of 2.64 million bpd in June, when India boosted purchases from Russia, encouraged by the U.S. waiver that has been extended by a month a few times since March. The Iran war and the Hormuz crisis further cemented Russia’s position as the single largest crude oil supplier to India So far in July, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ranked second, supplying an average of 617,000 bpd, [...]
