India’s crude imports rise 7% in September, bill surges 47%

India’s crude oil import bill surged 47% year-on-year (YoY) to $15.4 billion in September, amid resurging conflict in West Asia, according to provisional government data.

Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed that crude oil imports rose 7% YoY to 21.7 million metric tonnes (MMT) in September, even as shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) were about 8.5% lower although import bill stayed almost flat.

The increase in import costs widened India’s net oil and gas import bill — calculated as imports of crude oil, petroleum products and gas minus exports of petroleum products — by 39.6% to $13.4 billion during the month.

Petroleum product exports declined 24.2% to 4.7 MMT in September, while revenue accrued from the exports accelerated about 20% to $4.8 billion, according to the data.

In contrast, LNG imports declined 8.5% to 2,957 million standard cubic metres (MMSCM) in September, from 3,233 MMSCM in the corresponding month last year. However, the LNG import bill remained almost unchanged at $1.2 billion.