India’s Oil Imports From U.S. Rose 10-Fold In Last Couple Of Years: Energy Secretary
India began importing crude oil from the U.S. in 2017 as it looked to diversify its import basket beyond the OPEC nations.
India’s oil imports from the United States have risen 10-fold to 2,50,000 barrels per day in the last couple of years, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Speaking at a business meeting alongside President Donald Trump, he said Indian imports of U.S. oil were 25,000 barrels per day a couple of years ago.
The country is India's sixth largest oil supplier.
India began importing crude oil from the U.S. in 2017 as it looked to diversify its import basket beyond the OPEC nations. It bought 1.9 million tonnes (38,000 barrels per day) of crude oil from the U.S. in 2017-18 and another 6.2 million tonnes (1,24,000 barrels per day) in 2018-19. In the first six months of 2019-20, the U.S. supplied 5.4 million tonnes of crude oil to India.
Iraq is India's top crude oil supplier, meeting close to one-fourth of the country's oil demand. It sold 26 million tonnes of crude oil to India between April and September.
India, which imports 83 percent of its oil needs, bought 111.4 million tonnes of crude oil from overseas during April-September. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India's top oil source, but has been relegated to the second spot, exporting 20.7 million tonnes of crude oil in the first six months.