India imported a record 4.6 million bpd oil in 2018

India imported 4.8 percent more oil in 2018 to a record 4.58 million barrels per day (bpd) as the country increased purchases to feed its expanded refining capacity, ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed.

In December the country`s oil imports totalled 4.86 million bpd, an increase of about 15 percent from the previous month and about 11 percent more than a year earlier, the data showed.

In 2018 Iraq continued to be the top supplier to India on an annual basis for a second year in a row while Saudi Arabia maintained the second position, the data showed.

Iran remained the third-biggest oil supplier to India in 2018.

India`s imports from Iran in 2018 totalled about 531,000 bpd, about 13 percent higher than a year ago, the data showed.

The Middle East remained the biggest oil supplier to India, with the region`s share in imports rising to about 65 percent from 63 percent a year ago. Oil supplies from Africa fell slightly, accounting for about 14.5 percent of overall imports, while supplies from Latin America declined for a fourth year, with the region`s share shrinking to about 13.7 percent from 15 percent.

U.S. oil accounted for about 2.5 percent of India`s oil import in 2018 compared with 0.5 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)