India’s imports of Nigerian crude oil in October plunged to their lowest in over four years, with the world’s number three oil consumer increasingly turning to cheaper supplies from the United States and heavier Middle Eastern grades, ship tracking data showed.
Nigeria is the fourth biggest crude oil supplier to India behind Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
US crude production has soared more than 14 percent since mid-2016 to 9.65 million barrels per day (bpd), altering trade routes as its relatively cheap and light grades become a viable import option for Asian refiners.
“Earlier in Asia, West African oil was competing with Middle East grades, but now it has a new competitor: the US,” said Ehsan Ul-Haq, director of crude oil and refined products at consultancy Resource Economist.
Surging US crude output has made West Texas Intermediate (WTI)-linked American oil relatively cheap compared with the international benchmark, Brent, which has been propped up by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
WTI has since October been trading at an average discount of $6 per barrel to Brent.
“In the last few months, US oil gave tough competition to the African grades and the price difference (between WTI and Brent) was good enough to cover the freight,” said R Ramachandran, head of refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corp.
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US crude oil exports to India were unheard of until 2015, when Washington eased tight export restrictions in parallel with its growing output.
Rising steadily this year, US oil in October accounted for about 3 percent of India’s overall imports, while the share of African crude fell to about 10.5 percent, the lowest since November, 2012, the ship tracking data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed.
India’s oil imports in October totalled 4.1 million bpd, a decline of 15 percent over September, when they hit a monthly record. The imports were also 4.6 percent lower than a year ago. Of that, around 430,000 bpd came from Africa, the lowest level since March, 2013.
Supply disruptions in Nigeria also dented its exports, forcing Indian refiners to seek supplies elsewhere.
Last month, the share of the Middle East crude in India’s overall imports rose to its highest in about a year, making up almost 70 percent of all supplies, the data showed, shipping over around 2.8 million bpd.
Ramchandran said India’s new and expanded refineries were geared towards processing heavy oil from the Middle East.
“Instead of low sulphur, refiners are looking at medium sulphur oil, so cargoes are shifting from West Africa to the Middle East,” Ramachandran said.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
