The amount India paid for crude oil imports nearly doubled to $119 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year as energy prices rose globally due to the Ukraine war.
In the fiscal year that ended on March 31, India’s crude oil import bill than doubled to $119 billion, as global energy prices skyrocketed following the restoration of demand and the crisis in Ukraine.
According to data from the energy ministry’s Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, India, the world’s third-largest oil consumption and importing nation, spent $119.2 billion in 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), up from $62.2 billion the previous fiscal year (PPAC).
It spent $13.7 billion in March alone, when oil prices reached a 14-year high, compared to $8.4 billion in the same month the previous year.Oil prices began to rise in January, and by the following month, they had above $100 per barrel, before reaching $140 per barrel in early March.
India bought 212.2 million tonnes of crude oil in 2021-22, up from 196.5 million tonnes the previous year, according to PPAC. This was, however, less than the 227 million tonnes of pre-pandemic imports in 2019-20. In 2019-20, the United States spent $101.4 billion on oil imports.
Before being supplied to vehicles and other consumers, imported crude oil is refined into value-added products such as gasoline and diesel at oil refineries.
India has a surplus of refining capacity while being 85.5 percent reliant on imports to satisfy its crude oil needs. It exports certain petroleum products but relies on imports of cooking gas LPG from countries like as Saudi Arabia.
In 2021-22, the country consumed 202.7 million tonnes of petroleum products, up from 194.3 million tonnes in the previous fiscal year but lower than the pre-pandemic demand of 214.1 million tonnes in 2019-20.
Petroleum product imports were 40.2 million tonnes worth $24.2 billion in fiscal 2021-22. 61.8 million tonnes of petroleum products, on the other hand, were exported for $42.3 billion.
In addition, India paid $11.9 billion in 2021-22 to buy 32 billion cubic metres of LNG. This compares to $7.9 billion spent on gas imports of 33 billion cubic metres in the previous fiscal year and $9.5 billion spent on imports of 33.9 billion cubic metres in 2019-20.
After accounting for exports, the net oil and gas import cost reached $113 billion, up from $63.5 billion in 2020-21 and $92.7 billion in 2019-20.
In the preceding fiscal year 2020-21, India spent $62.2 billion purchasing 196.5 million tonnes of crude oil as global oil prices remained low in the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic.
An increased crude oil import bill is projected to have a negative impact on macroeconomic indices.
