United States became India’s second biggest oil supplier after Iraq last month. Saudi Arabia’s voluntary output cut of 1 million barrels per day on top of an agreement with OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies) lead to Saudi Arabia becoming only the fourth biggest oil supplier to India as opposed to being in the top two positions usually.
The higher amount of imports from the U.S. is triggered by the lower U.S. crude demand. India's imports from the world's top producer rose 48 per cent to a record 545,300 barrels per day (bpd) in February from the prior month, accounting for 14 per cent of India's overall imports last month, the data obtained by Reuters showed.
In contrast, February imports from Saudi Arabia fell by 42 per cent from the previous month to a decade-low of 445,200 bpd, the data showed. Saudi Arabia, which has consistently been one of India's top two suppliers, slipped to No. 4 for the first time since at least January 2006.
India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, had repeatedly called on major oil producers to ease supply curbs to aid global economic recovery and had pointed to Saudi Arabia’s voluntary cuts for contributing to a spike in global oil prices.
Iraq continued to be the top oil seller to India despite a 23 per cent decline in purchases to a five-month low of 867,500 bpd, the data showed.
