India's crude oil imports from Russia increased 15% in May, surpassing the combined capacity from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S., according to real-time energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
Russia supplied India with around 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, whereas Iraq exported 830,000 bpd, the UAE provided 203,000 bpd and the U.S. supplied 138,0000 bpd.
Crude oil supply from Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, fell to 560,000 bpd, the lowest level since February 2021.
Russian oil constituted around 42% of India’s total imports in May, the highest share of any country in recent years.
OPEC members contributed 39% of India's oil imports in May, amounting to 1.8 million bpd, a decrease from 2.1 million bpd in April.
The European Union (EU) and G-7 countries banned seaborne crude exports from Russia by Dec. 5 last year and imposed a crude oil price cap of $60 per barrel.
As a result, Russia sought new export destinations for its oil exports, with China and India emerging as the largest importers of cheaper Russian petroleum, resulting in virtually no change in Russia's crude export volumes but at much higher levels.
Access to cheap Russian crude has boosted output and profits at Indian refineries, enabling them to export refined products competitively to Europe and take a more significant market share.
Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft and top Indian refiner Indian Oil Corp have also signed a term deal to increase and diversify oil grades delivered to India substantially.
Russia's oil exports rose in April to even the highest level since its invasion of Ukraine, boosting revenues by $1.7 billion despite Western sanctions, the International Energy Agency said at the time.
The country's oil export revenues rose by $1.7 billion to $15 billion in April.
The figure, however, was 27% lower than the same month in 2022. The agency added that Russia's tax receipts from its oil and gas by 64% year-on-year sector were down.
The agency said China and India accounted for nearly 80% of Russian crude export destinations.