India possesses sufficient crude supplies to last several weeks
(MENAFN) India has sufficient crude oil reserves to last several weeks, thanks to its diversified sources of imports, said Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Sunday.
As the world’s third-largest oil importer with strong ties to both Iran and Israel, India is monitoring the escalating conflict in the Middle East closely. Tehran, which controls the strategic Strait of Hormuz—a critical oil shipping route handling about 20% of global supply—has threatened to close it following recent U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“We have been keeping a close watch on the geopolitical developments in the Middle East over the past two weeks,” Puri said on X. He added that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has diversified its oil imports in recent years, with a significant portion no longer reliant on supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Of India’s total crude imports of 5.5 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2 million bpd still transit the Strait of Hormuz. Puri assured that all necessary measures will be taken to maintain a stable fuel supply for Indian consumers.
Since the onset of the Ukraine conflict, India and China have substantially increased their crude oil purchases from Russia. In March, Russian oil made up over 35% of India’s total imports. This growing demand was further reflected in May when India imported approximately 1.8 million bpd of Russian crude—the highest in ten months, according to Reuters and ship tracking data from Kpler.
Traders expect strong demand for lighter Russian crude grades to continue through July, with Indian refiners ordering more than 10 shipments of ESPO crude, which is sourced from the Eastern Siberian-Pacific Ocean pipeline.
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