Russian oil prevails in India's July imports despite refinery shutdowns

Low discounts fail to impact pecking order; continuing reliance on Russian supplies helps prop up GRMs of refiners

Despite a slew of local refining shutdowns, low discounts on Russian crude and reduction in exports, Russia continued to prevail in India’s crude basket in July and displaced Gulf grades and US oil, according to industry sources and shipping data.

Russian oil accounted for close to 45 per cent of India’s overall 4.69 million barrels per day in July, marginally higher from 44.4 per cent share in June of 4.6 million bpd of imports, and compared to a 44 per cent share a year earlier, according to market intelligence data from Paris-based Kpler. Russia had a record