Daily Energy Report
India’s import game, Germany cuts gas imports, US product build, Russian gas exports to Europe, Aramco/China partnership, Saudi fuel price hike, Japan’s earthquake hit power, and more.
Chart of the Day: Is India Playing Russia and Saudi Arabia or are They Playing India?
The News:
Bloomberg: Russian Oil Cargoes Head Away From India Amid Payment Issues
Business Insider: Russian oil tankers bound for India are turning around amid scuffle over payments to Moscow
Reuters: India's Russian oil imports drop on pricing, not due to payment woes
Bloomberg: Russian Oil Losing Competitive Edge in India as Prices Rise
Summary
Figure (1) above compares India’s weekly crude oil imports in 2023 to that of 2022. On average, the increase in 2023 was only 88 kb/d, way lower than expected. However, the most striking observation is the decline toward the end of 2023.
The four news stories above talk about the sharp decline in India’s crude imports from Russia and the increase in imports from Saudi Arabia. The common story is that a dispute between Russia and India about payments reduced Russian shipments to India. The Indian oil minister denied this story and emphasized the point that the change is about prices and only prices as the Russian discount vanished. However, some of the oil-laden Russian tankers have been marked by the US as tankers violating the “price cap,” and the Indian ports probably do not want to deal with it. There are legs to each story, but one thing is clear: Indian companies were not paying Russia in Indian rupees!