India's oil imports from Russia hit 12- month low in Jan as sanctions bite

 India's crude oil imports from its top supplier Russia fell for a second straight month in January to their lowest in a year as tighter Western sanctions hit supply of light sweet Sokol grade,The world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer boosted imports of Iraqi oil to offset the drop in Russian oil imports, according to the data. Imports from Russia declined 4.2% to 1.3 million barrels per clay (bpd), according to LSEG data. Data from ship tracking agency Vortexa showed a slide of 9% to 1.2 million bpd. "The narrowing of Russian crude discounts versus Middle Eastern crude, recent U.S. sanctions on shipowners carrying Russian crude above the price cap and rising tanker premiums as a result of the Red Sea attacks have made Russian crude less attractive for Indian refiners in recent months," said Serena Huang, Vortexa's head of APAC analysis.

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