Russia is once more the second-largest exporter of oil to India, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia, data provided by three European commodity analytics firms revealed.
According to the latest figures, India imported 842,000 barrels per day of Russian oil in September, up from 732,000 barrels per day in August and the amount it imported from Saudi Arabia was reported to be 869,000 barrels per day.
The data also revealed that Indian refiners increased their Russian oil haul by placing orders for previously rarely ordered grades Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO), Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Novy Port Light.
The Russian oil supplies to India is likely to rise in October and November, Indian business news website Business Standard reported, quoting analysts at Vortexa, an industry analytical company.
According to Vortexa analyst Serena Huang: "India's crude oil imports in September recovered from a fall in August, but remain well below the peaks of June and July. Ongoing and upcoming seasonal repairs at several refineries this quarter reduced refiners' appetite for crude oil imports, but refiners should increase purchases of crude oil next month to meet higher domestic demand during the holiday season next quarter, as well as higher diesel demand from Europe."
According to tanker-tracking data obtained by Reuters, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the second-largest oil supplier to India in June this year. However, in August, Saudi Arabia leap-frogged Iraq as the largest exporter of crude oil to India for the first time in a year, and Russia ranked third.
Vessel-line up data published by Indian consulting agency Coalmint in August revealed that Russia has outperformed the US and others to become country's third-largest coal supplier in July as imports increased 10 percent to 2.03 million metric tons.