Russian crude oil helped; India gains profit by exporting fuel to European countries

NEW DELHI: Crude oil from Russia has reportedly enriched India's exports of fossil gas fuels. Oil imports from Russia are at record highs compared to previous years. Data shared by tracking companies Kepler and Vortexa indicate that this has resulted in huge gains for Indian refineries in the financial year 2022-23.

Refineries in India benefited from increased exports of diesel and aviation fuel to European countries. European countries had imposed a ban on fuel from Russia as part of the Ukraine conflict. India became Russia's main customer at this time, unlike the Western countries.

Indian refiners, which had ignored Russia until 2022 due to the high costs of transporting oil from Russia to the country, imported 970,000-981,000 barrels per day in the financial year 2022-23. Thus, Russia overtook Iraq as India's main supplier of crude oil. As Russian oil began to be available at a low price, there was an increase in the amount of fuel extracted and exported to European countries including France from Indian oil refineries.

Turkey, Belgium, and Netherlands are major importers of Indian diesel apart from France. Before the Ukraine conflict, European countries were importing an average of 154,000 barrels of diesel and aviation fuel per day from India. It has increased to 200,000 barrels per day in the financial year 2022-23. The European Union's decision to ban fuel imports from Russia on February 5, 2022, has benefited India in many ways. The country got a golden opportunity to earn foreign exchange as the European countries considered India as a way to bypass the fuel import ban.

India's total fuel exports for the 2022-23 financial year were lower than last year's figures, despite increased imports by European countries. The oil refineries remaining closed for maintenance in the second half of 2022 is the reason for this.