India remains number 2 Russian oil buyer in May

NEW DELHI: India continued to remain second largest buyer of Russian crude in May, with purchases worth nearly 4.8 billion euros (about $5.6 billion), up by nearly 7% from 4.5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) in April, said Centre for Research in Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent think tank based in Finland, in a latest report. CREA said India imported Russian hydrocarbons worth a total of 5.8 billion euros ($6.7 billion) and crude oil constituted 83% of the purchase. China remained biggest importer of Russian energy with purchases totalling nearly 7 billion euros ($8.1 billion), the report said. CREA said India’s total crude import volumes recorded an 8% month-on-month increase in May, largely driven by unloaded volumes at the Vadinar and Jamnagar refineries, which increased by 36% and 14%, respectively. The state-owned refineries also saw a month-on-month increase of 13% and 42%, respectively.