Crude oil imported by Indian refining companies stood at 85.959 million tonne during the April-September 2012.
It is learnt that Indian companies are reducing their import from Iran and are instead increasing their dependence on other countries like Iraq, Venezuela, Kuwait for sourcing crude oil.
Some analysts expect total import from Iran during 2012-13 to be just close to 12 million tonne or even lower if the trend continues. Reports suggest that Iraq became the second largest exporter of oil to India, a position held by Iran till 2011-12.
During Apr-Sep 2012, Iraq met almost 13 per cent of the total requirement, followed by Venezuela (10.3 per cent) and Kuwait (9.8 per cent). Kuwait was closely followed by the UAE which met 9.2 per cent of the total requirement during the period.
Reports suggest that the import numbers did not include the quantum of HPCL-Mittal’s refinery. Almost 62.6 per cent of this requirement came from West Asia, with Saudi Arabia being the largest supplier with 18.3 per cent of the total supplies.
Venezuela and Iraq have reportedly emerged as the next major suppliers for the country’s two big domestic refiners — Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance Industries.
For the fiscal 2011-12, the country had imported 171.73 million tonne of crude. This is expected to go up to 181-185 million tonne, with new refineries being added.
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