Opec+ giants pump out additional oil to India

Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia , Russia, Iraq and the UAE—the heavyweights of the Opec+ producers' alliance and India's top four suppliers—are ramping up oil production and directing most of their additional output to India, boosting their combined market share to nearly 78% in the world's third-largest oil consumer. In May, these four countries supplied 375,000 barrels per day (bpd) more to India than in April, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa.That's even higher than the 359,000 bpd they had collectively committed to additionally produce under Opec+'s plan to raise output by 409,000 bpd. Saudi Arabia, the biggest contributor to the group's supply increase, delivered the largest incremental volume to India in May, expanding its market share by 3 percentage points over April to 13.1%. The gain was driven by price cuts offered to Asian buyers. Saudi Aramco had cut the May OSP for Arab Light—its flagship grade—by $2.30 per barrel.This has brought down the premium to $1.20 above the Oman/Dubai benchmark for Asian buyers. The premium remains at $1.20 for July loadings, after briefly rising to $1.40 for June.'The recent Saudi Aramco's official selling price (OSP) cuts for May loadings—close to four-year lows—along with the widening Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) made Middle Eastern crude grades more competitively priced than other Brent-linked crudes,' said Xavier Tang, market analyst at Vortexa. 'Production increases from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members play an essential role in the Dubai crude price structure.'Saudi Arabia's aggressive pricing strategy comes as global suppliers compete for a larger share of India's growing crude market. 'Saudi is offering attractive prices to gain share in India,' an Indian refinery executive told ET. China, despite having a much larger oil market, has seen demand slow as buyers increasingly shift to electric vehicles, he added.Russia retained the top position among India's crude suppliers, thanks to continued discounts on its barrels.As part of the OPEC+ May supply boost, Saudi Arabia had agreed to increase output by 166,000 bpd, Russia by 79,000 bpd, Iraq by 37,000 bpd and the UAE by 77,000 bpd. Their respective exports to India rose by 135,673 bpd, 114,016 bpd, 66,642 bpd and 58,365 bpd. This translated into market shares of 13.1%, 35.4%, 21.4% and 7.6% in May. Collectively, their share rose 8.1 percentage points to 77.5%. These gains came at the expense of African suppliers, whose share in India's crude imports fell to 4.9% in May from 11.8% in April. US crude exports to India also declined, reducing its share to 5.7% from 7%.Eight OPEC+ countries have agreed to raise output by another 411,000 bpd in June and again in July. The rising supply has put pressure on prices, which have hovered between $60-65 per barrel for more than two months, well below the 2024 average of $80.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

First Post

4 hours ago

• First Post

FATF links dual-use equipment seized by India to Pakistan's missile programme

A dual use equipment seized by India from a Pakistan bound merchant vessel in 2020 is linked to Islamabad's National Development Complex that is involved in the country's missile development programme, a new report by the Financial Action Task Force has said. read more India's 2020 seizure of Pakistan-bound dual-use equipment has been linked to Islamabad's missile development programme, according to a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The equipment, intercepted from a merchant vessel is associated with Pakistan's National Development Complex, a key entity involved in the country's missile development. FATF, the global financial watchdog, referenced the case in its latest report, which outlines risks and vulnerabilities in the international financial and trade systems. The incident was cited under a section highlighting the misuse of the maritime and shipping sectors to move sensitive goods, including dual-use items that can be repurposed for weapons programmes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'In 2020, Indian custom authorities seized an Asian-flagged ship bound for Pakistan. During an investigation, Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment's dual-use items,' the FATF report said. 'Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be 'Autoclaves', which are used for sensitive high energy materials and for insulation and chemical coating of missile motors,' the report said. It said these sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The bill of lading of the seized cargo provided evidence of the 'link between the importer and the National Development Complex, which is involved in the development of long-range ballistic missiles,' it said. The export of equipment such as the autoclaves without formal approval from various authorities is a violation of existing law, the FATF said. Pakistan's National Development Complex (NDC) has played a crucial role in the development of Pakistan's missile programme. India had seized the dual-use equipment from merchant vessel Da Cui Yun at Kandla port in Gujarat on February 3, 2020. The Indian customs authorities had stopped the vessel for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in construction of missiles, as an 'industrial dryer'. The report said that significant vulnerabilities remain across the global financial system in countering the financing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Despite the grave threat posed by proliferation financing (PF), only 16 per cent of countries assessed by the FATF and its global network have demonstrated high or substantial effectiveness' in a process that evaluates the implementation of targeted financial sanctions under the United Nations Security Council resolutions on proliferation. The report said that unless the public and private sectors urgently bolster technical compliance and effectiveness, those seeking to finance WMD proliferation will continue to exploit weaknesses in existing controls. The report provided a detailed analysis of the evolving methods and techniques used to evade PF-related sanctions. 'Illicit actors are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to evade sanctions and circumvent export controls,' it said. With inputs from agencies

Time of India

4 hours ago

• Time of India

FATF report links dual-use equipment seized by India in 2020 to Pakistan's defence agency

India confiscated equipment from a ship bound for Pakistan in 2020. The equipment is linked to Pakistan's National Development Complex. This complex is involved in missile development. The Financial Action Task Force report highlighted this seizure. The report also pointed out vulnerabilities in preventing weapons proliferation. The seized items were mis-declared as industrial dryers. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: A dual-use equipment seized by India from a Pakistan-bound merchant vessel in 2020 is linked to Islamabad's National Development Complex that is involved in the country's missile development programme, a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has seizure of the dual-use equipment used in developing missiles found mention in the report by the multilateral financial watchdog that highlighted vulnerabilities in the global financial report listed the case under a section on the misuse of the maritime and shipping sectors including to transport a range of commodities, including dual-use equipment."In 2020, Indian custom authorities seized an Asian-flagged ship bound for Pakistan. During an investigation, Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment's dual-use items," the FATF report said."Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be 'Autoclaves', which are used for sensitive high energy materials and for insulation and chemical coating of missile motors," the report said these sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).The bill of lading of the seized cargo provided evidence of the "link between the importer and the National Development Complex, which is involved in the development of long-range ballistic missiles," it export of equipment such as the autoclaves without formal approval from various authorities is a violation of existing law, the FATF National Development Complex (NDC) has played a crucial role in the development of Pakistan's missile had seized the dual-use equipment from merchant vessel Da Cui Yun at Kandla port in Gujarat on February 3, Indian customs authorities had stopped the vessel for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in construction of missiles, as an "industrial dryer".The report said that significant vulnerabilities remain across the global financial system in countering the financing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)."Despite the grave threat posed by proliferation financing (PF), only 16 per cent of countries assessed by the FATF and its global network have demonstrated high or substantial effectiveness" in a process that evaluates the implementation of targeted financial sanctions under the United Nations Security Council resolutions on report said that unless the public and private sectors urgently bolster technical compliance and effectiveness, those seeking to finance WMD proliferation will continue to exploit weaknesses in existing report provided a detailed analysis of the evolving methods and techniques used to evade PF-related sanctions."Illicit actors are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to evade sanctions and circumvent export controls," it said.

Time of India

5 hours ago

• Time of India

CBDT exempts certain IFSC unit payments from TDS

(You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT ) has exempted payments made by finance companies fund management entities, recognised clearing corporations and stock exchanges to International Financial Services Centre units from deducting tax at source (TDS), effective July said Saturday the exemption will cover payments under several categories, including those made by stock exchanges, commission incentives, interest from leases, freight or hire charges from finance firms, portfolio management fees, advisory charges and other service fees, professional and technical fee and rent for data centres. The payee must furnish a statement-cum-declaration to the payer. The relief is available for 10 consecutive assessment years chosen by the payee.