India increases oil imports from Russia, US

India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil in June, importing more than the combined volumes from Middle Eastern suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, amid market volatility triggered by Israel's dramatic attack on Iran.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

US military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, directly joining Israel which first struck Iranian nuclear sites on June 13. Indian refiners are likely to import 2-2.2 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in June - the highest in the last two years and more than the total volumes bought from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, preliminary data by global trade analytics firm Kpler showed.

India’s oil imports from Russia were 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in May. Imports from United States also rose to 439,000 bpd in June, a big jump from 280,000 bpd purchased in the previous month.

Full-month projections for imports from the Middle East stand at around 2 million bpd, lower than the previous month's buying, according to Kpler.