The country's crude oil imports fell to a nine-month low

New Delhi: India's crude oil imports fell to a six-month low in June. Consumption has been low in the previous two months due to the spread of the Corona virus and restrictions on its prevention, and India's oil refiners have reduced imports due to increased storage.

India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, imported about 3 lakh barrels of oil last month, a decline of about 3 per cent since May. However, according to trade sources, the imports in June were 9 per cent higher than in June last year.

India is Asia's second-largest importer after China, where crude oil imports fell last month. An Indian refining official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said refiners had increased crude processing and imports and increased fuel demand in India in February and March. However, fuel demand fell sharply in April and May as the government banned all activities in view of the second wave of Corona virus. This increased the storage of oil refineries. "We have adequate storage of refined fuel," the sources said.

Therefore, crude oil imports are unlikely to grow. He said the export market was not attractive as profits were very low. However, India's crude oil imports increased by 11.5 per cent between April and June to 21 lakh bpd as lockdown restrictions were not as tight as last year.

Last month, Iraq was India's largest oil supplier, followed by Saudi Arabia. The UAE moved into fourth place as Nigeria became the third largest supplier.

The United States is fifth and Canada is sixth. India's share of revenue from West Asia rose to 5 per cent in June from 5 per cent in the previous month.