India’s imports of Saudi oil increased 4% during December‎

Data from ship tracking agencies showed that India increased its imports of Saudi oil in December, as payment problems pushed its purchases of Russian oil to the lowest level in 11 months, with at least five shipments of Sokol crude heading to other locations.

Sources told Reuters last month that the Indian Oil Corporation, which was scheduled to receive Sokol crude, was forced to withdraw from its stocks and buy from the Middle East to make up for the shortfall.

The Indian Oil Corporation is the only state-run company that has concluded an annual deal to buy a variety of Russian crude oils, including Sokol, from the large Russian oil company Rosneft.

India’s oil imports from Russia fell by between 16 and 22 percent in December, according to Reuters calculations based on data from flow tracking agencies Vortexa and Kpler and the London Stock Exchange.

However, data from Kpler and Vortexa showed that India’s imports of Saudi oil rose by about 4%.

London Stock Exchange data shows a decline in India’s monthly imports of Russian oil by 22% to 1.21 million barrels per day in December, while Kpler data shows a decline of 16% to 1.39 million barrels per day.