Indian refiners increase Ural stocks
- August 3, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Indian refiners increase Ural stocks
Subject :Geography
Section: Physical geography
Context: India’s import of Ural crude oil hits a new high in July as Indian refiners stock up.
Key Points:
- State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), stocked up on the grade fearing supply disruptions during August and September as Russia limits exports to shore up prices and meet domestic demand.
- India’s preference for Russia’s largest export grade, Ural, can be gauged from the fact that its imports are close to the combined shipments by the other three top suppliers — Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Indian refiners majorly cut down on premium light sweet grades such as ESPO, Varandey and Sokol (marginal decline) in July 2023. Besides, the import of other light sweet crude, Novy Port doubled, while that of the lighter grade Siberian Light was higher marginally.
- Russian Crudes:
- Russia has its own oil grade called Urals. This oil is similar to the quality of Brent oil and is even better than WTI oil. The heavier the oil, the more expensive oil products one can produce by processing it.
- Novy Port is a light sweet crude that Gazprom Neft produces from Russia’s gas-rich Arctic region. Other light sweet grade crudes are ESPO, Varandey and Sokol, Arco & Siberian Light.
| Crude Oil types The oil industry and regulators use crude oil’s density and sulfur content to classify it into several categories. Oil can be grouped by sulfur content as either sweet (low) or sour (high), or by density as either heavy or light. Using these two groups—and by creating a group in between—oil is classified into six classes by the industry and investors:
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