According to accounts in Bloomberg and RT, India has begun to increase its oil imports from Russia. India is a large oil importer, but heretofore has only purchased small quantities of Russian oil, and so it has been considered a natural to step in and purchase Russian oil that is not being sold in the West, due to sanctions. Russia’s Commerce Ministry reported that India purchased over 396,000 tons of Russian oil in March, a 15% rise from the previous month and a 40% increase on an annual basis.
Overall, Asian countries in April for the first time surpassed Europe as the largest importers of Russian oil, Bloomberg reported on Friday, May 27, citing Singapore-based analytics firm Kpler. Most of the Asian purchases have gone to China and India, which are receiving a significant 25% discount, according to press accounts.
