Cheap Russian oil helps India widen petro product exports

Oil imports from Moscow rose three-fold to $4.64 bn in April from $1.2 bn a year earlier.

- Cheap Russian oil helps India widen petro product exports

India has massively expanded export markets for its refined petro products in the last one year, commerce ministry data for April showed, thanks to discounted Russian oil that came gushing in the wake of the Ukraine war.

The increase was significant in the case of Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Iraq, Mauritius, Nigeria and Sudan (see chart alongside). There was also a rise in oil export to European countries including Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain in April. To be sure, the increase comes on a low base, considering that India’s oil product exports to several of these countries were minuscule.

Interestingly, such exports also saw a sharp rise to the UK and the Netherlands, which are already large export markets for India.