India’s Crude Basket Now Tracks Brent More Closely

India uses a special measure to track the price of the crude oil its refineries buy.

That measure is called the Indian crude basket.

It used to be based mostly on Oman-Dubai oil.

From March, it became based more on Dated Brent oil.

This change better matches where more of India’s oil comes from and how it is priced.

The basket now follows Brent prices more closely.

In early September, the basket’s average price was higher than in August.

When futures prices fall, Indian refiners may not feel the benefit right away.

The drop may also reach them only partly until physical oil prices fall.