India's oil imports rise sharply in October driven by Russian influx

On a yearly basis, crude oil imports rose 3.7 per cent, from 19.56 million tonnes in October 2024, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell shows. Meanwhile, imports of crude oil products fell about 7.1 per cent on a yearly basis to 4.35 million tonnes in October, while product exports rose 1.4 per cent to 5.12 million tonnes.

"Looking at tanker tracking data, there was an increase in imports coming from Russia. So assume an attractive price discount supported those import increase," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. "Another factor is still the seasonally rising demand, which supports higher imports during 4Q."