Iraq replaced Saudi Arabia as top crude supplier to India in April as refiners moved to boost their processing margins by purchasing the cheaper Basra Heavy oil grade, ship tracking and Thomson Reuters trade flow data showed. Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, but so far has been resistant to an aggressive cut given its reliance on oil revenues to fund its economy. “Iraqi oil is a good alternative to other heavy grades from OPEC. A delay to Venezuelan oil loadings due to problems at a major port helped to boost India’s demand for Iraqi oil, and India also took more Russian Urals crude. Iran emerged as the third-biggest oil supplier to India in April, replacing Venezuela, which slipped to the fifth spot, behind Nigeria, the data showed.

Source: Hindustan Times May 17, 2017 12:22 UTC