India keeps buying a lot of Russian oil, with July imports hitting a new all-time high and accounting for more than half of total Indian crude oil imports.

India's crude oil imports from Russia rose to 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, up from the previous high of 2.7 million bpd in June, for the highest average monthly volume ever, according to vessel-tracking data by Kpler cited by the Times of India on Monday. 

Total Indian crude oil imports inched up slightly from June to stand at just over 5 million bpd in July, per the data.

The share of Russian oil in India's overall crude imports was 55.5% last month, as Indian refiners continued to rely on Russian volumes amid threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and more recently, at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.  

Apart from record Russian volumes, Indian refiners boosted imports of crude from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as millions of barrels managed to make it out of the Persian Gulf during the mid-June-mid-July window in which the Strait of Hormuz was tentatively open to tanker traffic. India also imported crude from Kuwait for the first time since March, according to the shipping data compiled by Kpler.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained India's second-largest crude oil supplier, behind Russia, as the UAE is raising production and shipments of crude loaded on tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz.

India continued to keep high levels of Russian imports in July even after the end of the U.S. waiver the previous month. The U.S. quietly let the waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on June 17, just as the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal.

Going forward, Russian crude will remain a key source of oil supply for India amid the highly uncertain shipping conditions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, analysts say.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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