Iraq overtakes Saudi Arabia as top crude exporter to India

Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia to become the top crude oil exporter to India last month as the two biggest OPEC producers compete over market share in the country, Reuters reported.

Iraq exported about 960,700 barrels per day (bpd) to India in April, a 41 percent jump from March and 79 percent higher than a year ago, according to data gathered by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia exported about 787,700 bpd of oil to India last month, roughly 14 percent lower than a year ago.

India, Asia's fastest growing oil market, saw its April imports rise by 6 percent overall from March. Iraq accounted for 22 percent of the country’s imports last month, up from 15 percent a year ago. Saudi Arabia’s share dropped to 18 percent, from 25 percent in 2015.

Iraqi oil is much more beneficial than Saudi because they are better priced, said A. K. Sharma, head of finance at Indian Oil Corp., the country's biggest refiner.

Iraq has consistently maintained their official selling prices (OSP) below Saudi Arabia. In April, it set the OSP for its flagship Basrah Light crude at a discount of 2.60 a barrel to Middle East benchmarks, 20 cents under the OSP for comparable crude grade Arab Medium.

Meanwhile, Iran is also raising its share in Indian imports. The country accounted for about 9 percent of overall purchases in April, compared to 7.2 percent a year ago, Reuters said.

Saudi Arabia also lost its top spot in China, Asia's biggest oil consumer, last month when Russia overtook the world's biggest crude exporter due to strong purchases by Chinese independent refineries.