Saudi Arabia claws back No. 2 supplier status to India from US

A man waits to get a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine in a school-turned-vaccination center in New Delhi. (AFP)

• US slips to fourth place behind UAE among oil suppliers
• India reported more than 300,000 COVID-19 cases on Monday

NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia was India’s second biggest oil supplier again in March, after ceding the position for a month to the United States, which slipped to fourth place behind the United Arab Emirates, according to preliminary tanker arrival data obtained from shipping and industry sources.
Iraq remained the top oil supplier. India imported 4.39 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March, about 12 percent more than the previous month but a decline of about 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. Overall India’s oil imports in fiscal year 2020/21 fell to a six year low of 3.97 million bpd as refiners cut crude processing after the spread of COVID-19 destroyed fuel demand, the data compiled by Reuters showed. The following table shows India’s imports by country. The imports include condensate.
India on Monday reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day. The new wave of the virus has already led to a drop in fuel sales in the world’s third-largest consumer in April.