Oil Imports Fall to the Lowest in 9 years in June

India’s oil imports fell to the lowest levels in nearly 9 years in June 2020 since refiners curbed purchase of oil due to maintenance issues and weaker demands for fuel. This is the lowest level of imports to India since 2011.

India is the third-largest oil consumer and importer in India and it received 3.2 million barrels per day oil in June, a whopping decrease of 0.4% from May and around 28.5% from a year ago. The figures have been published by the oil industry.

Along with that, since June 2009, India did not import oil at all from Venezuela in June 2020. This comes on the backdrop of the decision taken by Indian Oil, BPCL, etc. shutting units for maintenance.

Normally also, the fuel consumption in India gets reduced in the four-month monsoon season from June as rains hit construction and transportation in the country. In the first half of July also, the demand slowed down because of high retail prices and renewed coronavirus lockdowns in parts of the country.

In June, Iraq became the top oil supplier to India after 2 months whereas Saudi Arabia remains in the second position, after losing its top spot. UAE and Nigeria come at the third and the fourth positions respectively according to the June data released by the industry. The US came fifth, a position previously occupied by Venezuela.

Overall, the total share of imports from the Middle East has increased and a reduction has been observed for the Latin American countries because of the sanctions of the US on Venezuela.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2020