India soaks up surplus oil pumped out by Opec+

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq and the UAE —the heavyweights of the Opec+ producers' alliance and India's top four suppliers—are ramping up oil production and directing most of their additional output to India.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Their combined market share is nearly 78% in the world's third-largest oil consumer.

In May, these four countries supplied 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) more to India than in April, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa. That's even higher than the 359,000 bpd they had collectively committed to additionally produce under Opec+'s plan to raise output by 409,000 bpd.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest contributor to the group's supply increase, delivered the largest incremental volume to India in May, expanding its market share by 3 percentage points over April to 13.1%. The gain was driven by price cuts offered to Asian buyers.