Indian refiners topped up crude oil supplies from Russia, Venezuela and West Africa to compensate for lost cargoes from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) region, particularly Saudi Arabia, during April 2026.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its April oil market report pointed out that OPEC+ crude supply declined by 830,000 barrels per day (b/d) in April to 34.1 million b/d (mb/d) as OPEC Gulf production fell a further 900,000 b/d m-o-m with continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz necessitating additional curtailments.
The Gulf region’s severe supply disruption deepened following early-April attacks on oil infrastructure and the start of the US blockade on Iranian exports towards the end of the month, it added.
The two main importers of Russian crude oil — China and India — reduced purchases in April, with declines of 380,000 b/d each m‑o‑m to 1.4 mb/d and to 1.6 mb/d, respectively, as March imports were inflated by floating storage made available under a US sanctions waiver.
“While ESPO (Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean) exports from Kozmino to China fell by 150,000 b/d in April, flows to India increased by a similar volume, reaching an all‑time high of 310,000 b/d,” the IEA pointed out.
Saudi Arabia exported around 590,000 b/d of light crude to India in February 2026, partly explaining the shift towards ESPO, which has a similar quality to Arab Light, it opined.
Similarly, Venezuelan crude oil exports to India gained 100,000 b/d m-o-m to 380,000 b/d as the country looks to offset the loss of Middle East supplies, IEA explained.
Saudi Arabia’s crude output declined by 270,000 b/d to 7 mb/d in April. Total crude exports averaged 4.2 mb/d, compared with 7.3 mb/d in February, as loadings from Yanbu were up by 3.4 mb/d from February levels and 950 kb/d above March.
“West African grades strengthened in tandem, supported by substitution demand from European refiners and incremental buying from Asian refiners–particularly in Indonesia and India–seeking replacements for disrupted Middle Eastern supply,” the report noted.
Global crude oil supply losses mainly stem from disruptions in MEG during April 2026 with the US, Kazakhstan, Russia and Venezuela providing most of the increase.
IEA pointed out that China witnessed the biggest decline in imports in April, with crude arrivals down 3.6 mb/d from February to 7.9 mb/d.
“Significant reductions were also seen in Japan (-1.9 mb/d to 680,000 b/d), Korea (-1 mb/d to 1.6 mb/d) and India (-760,000 b/d to 4.4 mb/d). These four countries alone cut crude oil imports by an unprecedented 7.2 mb/d since the start of the war, and while there are some timing effects, this amounts to around three-quarters of Gulf crude export losses,” it added.
Published on May 15, 2026
