Tokyo: India has overtaken Japan as the world's third biggest crude oil importer in 2013, data showed on Thursday.
India imported 3.86 million barrels-per-day of crude oil in 2013, tanker arrival data compiled by Reuters from trade sources showed on Thursday.
India’s imports were nearly six per cent higher than Japan’s customs-cleared imports of 3,648,372 barrels per day, which is equivalent to 211 million kilolitres.
The growth in crude oil consumption despite a slowing economy highlights the inelastic nature of oil demand in India. The government has last year freed diesel prices — the key contributor to state subsidy — to make tame the growing demand for the fuel.
The United States remain the world’s largest consumer of crude oil, followed by China.
According to the Intern-ational Energy Agency (IEA) world oil consumption would increase by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2014, 50,000 bpd higher than previously forecast.
“Global oil demand growth appears to have gradually gained momentum in the last 18 months, driven by economic recovery in the developed world," the IEA said in its monthly report. “Most OECD economies have by now largely exited the restraints of recession, with strong gains in some countries in the energy-intensive manufacturing and petrochemical sectors,” it said.
