India has agreed to increase the amount of Saudi Crude it purchases, according to the Indian minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.
“India’s imports of Crude and LPG from Saudi Arabia is going to increase in the coming year,” he said in an interview with Gulf News.
The minister told reporters that India’s demand for crude was increasing in line with economic growth and with enhancement in the country’s refining capacity.
Saudi Arabia supplied 38.08MMT of crude oil to India in 2013-2014, which accounted for 20.12% of India’s total oil imports.
Crude imports cost India $143bn last year and the country is looking to diversify its supply to mitigate the threat of escalating geopolitical tensions elsewhere in the region.
