On April 24, OPEC’s share of India’s oil imports fell at the fastest pace in 2022/23 to the lowest level in at least 22 years as imports of cheap Russian oil surged, according to industry sources. The share of oil producers is likely to shrink further this year.
The data showed that OPEC’s share of the Indian oil market slipped to 59% by March 2023 from 72% in the 2021/22 fiscal year.
In the last fiscal year, Russia overtook Iraq as India’s top oil supplier for the first time and pushed Saudi Arabia to third place.
The reduction of OPEC’s share is mainly due to the fact that India has now become the largest oil customer of Russia’s seaborne oil, but in the past, due to high freight costs, India rarely bought Russian oil.
OPEC and its allies previously decided to cut production in May, which is expected to further squeeze OPEC’s share of the world’s third-largest oil importer later this year if supplies from Russia remain high.