India’s refiner shuns Nigeria’s crude oil in Q1

India’s Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s biggest refining complex, saw its imports of Nigerian crude oil slump to zero in the first quarter of the year, compared to 9,800 barrels per day in Q1 2019.

India has remained the single largest buyer of Nigerian crude oil in the past few years after the United States slashed its imports from the country on the back of its shale oil production boom.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Reliance Industries imported 8.3 per cent less oil in March than in the same month of 2019, according to data from shipping and industry sources.

It said the March imports, at 1.24 million bpd, were 6.1 per cent per cent above the previous month’s.

Reliance shipped in about 43 per cent of its imports from Latin America, slightly lower than about 43.5 per cent a year before, the data showed.

The share of Middle Eastern oil in its overall purchases rose to 43.19 per cent from about 37 per cent a year ago. Imports from the US declined to about 10 per cent from 13 per cent a year ago, the data showed.