Mumbai: India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil and revived alternate supplies from Africa, Iran and Venezuela to blunt a sharp crude shortfall from the crisis-ridden Middle East, analysts say.
India, the world's third-largest oil buyer, normally sources about half of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that has seen only a trickle of traffic since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.
India's heavy import dependence, combined with modest oil reserves compared with major consumers like China, has prompted analysts to warn that India could be among the most vulnerable to a sudden oil price hike.
But while India is grappling with disruptions to cooking gas supplies, it has so far avoided the petrol shortages that have hit some neighbouring nations.
Ship tracking and import data show that India has partially plugged the gap by turning to old allies, expanding promising ties and reviving suppliers it had not tapped in years.
Indian refiners imported an average of nearly 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) from Russia in March, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler -- a sharp jump from the previous two months.
Imports from Angola averaged 327,000 bpd in March, data from Kpler shows, nearly three times what India received in February.
Industry watchers say African crude purchases were made before the United States struck Iran and have proven to be useful.
"A lot of the uptick you're seeing from Angola in March or Nigeria in April comes because we were (already) looking at sources other than Russia," an official at a state run refiner told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak with journalists.
According to Kpler, crude from both Iran and Venezuela began arriving this month.
Imports from Iran averaged 276,000 bpd as of mid?April, while shipments from Venezuela stood at around 137,000 bpd, preliminary data from Kpler shows.
However, they are unlikely to fully replace Middle Eastern barrels on a structural basis due to crude slate mismatches," said Dubey, explaining Indian refineries were configured for different grades than what comes from the African countries.
The government and state oil firms "have taken relentless steps in order to insulate Indian citizens from steep increases in international prices".
