India has enough crude supplies to last several weeks- Oil Minister

New Delhi has enough crude oil supplies to last it the next several weeks as it has diversified its source of imports, India’s minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said on Sunday.

India, the world's third-largest oil importer, which enjoys close ties with both Iran and Israel, has expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Iran, which controls the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route which accounts for 20% of the global oil supply, has said it would close the waterway in the wake of the US attacks on three of its nuclear installations on Sunday. 

“We have been closely monitoring the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East since the past two weeks,” Puri said on X. “Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi Ji, we have diversified our supplies in the past few years and a large volume of our supplies do not come through the Strait of Hormuz now.”

Out of India’s total import of 5.5 million barrels of crude per day (bpd), around 2 million bpd pass through the Strait of Hormuz. “We will take all necessary steps to ensure stability of supplies of fuel to our citizens,” Puri added. 

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, India and China have significantly upped their oil purchases from  Russia. Crude from the country accounted for over 35% of India’s total oil imports in March. The surge in imports in May has helped Moscow solidify its position as a major oil supplier to Asia’s most populous country. 

In May, India's imports of Russian crude oil reached around 1.8 million bpd, the highest level in 10 months, Reuters reported, citing ship tracking data from Kpler. Traders predicted that the strong demand for lighter Russian grades will continue until July, driven by Indian refiners, which have ordered over 10 shipments of ESPO crude for June loading, Reuters added.

ESPO crude refers to oil from the Eastern Siberian-Pacific Ocean pipeline.