Iraq seems to be displacing Iran as the next favoured supplier after Saudi Arabia, which continues to be the largest supplier of crude oil to India. This is as the domestic refiners look at reducing imports Iran.
Though India has been maintaining that it is not looking to reducing imports from Iran, domestic refiners are looking for alternate sources. Domestic oil refiners such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd have been treading cautiously for supplies from Iran following the sanctions imposed against it.
Expectations are that sourcing from Iran will be cut by at least 10 per cent. While Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has already said it will cut Iranian imports by about 15 per cent for its annual contract, private refiner Essar Oil is taking its full volume.
On February 29, to meet its growing crude oil demand, India sought additional 3-4 million tonnes supplies from Iraq for the next fiscal. Iraq is currently India's third largest oil supplier. India buys about 17 million tonnes of crude oil from Iraq annually.
This was close on the heels of seeking higher volumes from Saudi Arabia. On February 23, India sought 4-5 million tonnes more crude oil from Saudi Arabia for the next fiscal and each passing year. India buys 27 million tonnes annually from Saudi Arabia.
Till now, Iran is India's second-biggest crude oil supplier, meeting about 12 per cent of the country's needs and continues to do so.
According to industry observers, Iraq is emerging as the next major supplier as two big domestic refiners — Indian Oil Corporation (13 million tonnes) and Reliance Industries — source their crude from here.