India has reportedly registered a crude oi import bill of USD 119 billion in the financial year 2022 amidst the soaring energy prices during the war in Ukraine. The latest oil import bill is up from USD 62.2 billion from the previous financial year, as per insights from the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.

In March this year, the third-largest oil-importing nation spent around USD 13.7 billion when oil prices soared to a record 14-year high as compared to USD 8.4 billion recorded in the same month the previous year.

Oil prices have risen since January and surpassed USD 100/barrel over the following month before reaching USD 140/barrel in March. Since then, prices have reduced and are around USD 106/barrel currently.

According to PPAC, India imported nearly 212.2 million tonnes of crude oil this fiscal year, up from last year’s 196.5 million tonnes. However, this was lower than imports before the pandemic (227 million tonnes) in 2019-2020. The expenditure on oil imports that year was USD 101.4 billion.

India, which relies heavily on imports, has also developed an additional refining capacity. While the country exports petrol products, it lacks in terms of producing cooking gas LNG (liquified petroleum gas), which is imported from countries like Saudi Arabia.

According to PPAC, India used nearly 202.7 million tonnes of petrol products in 21-22, up from 194.3 million tonnes over the previous financial year, but lower than the demand before the pandemic (214.1 million tonnes) in 2019-2020.

Over 40.2 million tonnes of petroleum products were imported in FY 2021-22 which was worth USD 24.2 billion whereas 61.8 million tonnes of petrol products were exported for approximately USD 42.3 billion.

It is worth noting that India’s reliance on imports has increased due to a consistent decline in domestic output.

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