By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, Dec 14 (Reuters) - India's oil imports from
Africa and the United States rose sharply in November, while
those from the from the Middle East and Latin America fell, data
obtained from industry sources shows.
Last month India, the world's third largest oil importer and
consumer, imported 3.9 million barrels per day (bpd), 3.3% less
than in October, the data showed.
However, the annual pace of decline in India's oil imports
has been slowing as fuel demand in Asia's third largest economy
gradually recovers. Annual oil imports fell by about 8.5% in
November, the smallest drop in seven months. O/INDIA2
Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS , the country's top refiner,
operated its 9 plants in November at 100% capacity for the first
time since February. Oil imports from the United States rose 49% in November from
the previous month to a 13-month high of 283,000 bpd, or about
7% of overall imports compared to 4% in October, the data
showed.
That bumped it up three places to become India's fourth
biggest supplier, behind Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates, pushing Nigeria and Kuwait into fifth and sixth place
respectively.
African oil imports rose 23% from October, boosting the
region's share of Indian imports to 14% in November from 11%,
while Latin America's dipped to 10% from 13.5%.
Imports from Latin America fell 29% to 388,000 bpd as
Reliance Industries RELI.NS , Venezuela's only Indian oil
client, received the last shipments allowed under temporary
permission from the U.S..
Imports from the Middle East fell 4.5% to about 2.6 million
bpd, leading to a minor reduction in its share of overall
imports to 66%.
The share of OPEC oil, including supplies from the Neutral
Zone where production belongs to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, fell
to a four month low of 71.6%, putting its average share for the
first eight months of this fiscal year to March at 73.8%.
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Opec's share of India's oil imports drop to record low https://tmsnrt.rs/3m84LpS
India's oil imports from key suppliers https://tmsnrt.rs/2UWjVTn
Share of various regions in India's oil imports https://tmsnrt.rs/3odhqte
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