Saudi Arabia is not halting Oil Exports to India
Social media platforms, such as X, are flooded with claims suggesting that Saudi Arabia will cease oil exports to India, allegedly citing Qatar’s state media outlet, Al Jazeera. These posts appear to be aimed at creating a diplomatic rift between India and Saudi Arabia, as well as undermining the personal rapport between Narendra Modi and Mohammed bin Salman.
Asad Nasir claimed, ‘BREAKING NEWS:-Saudi Arabia is likely to suspend Oil exports to India. Source: Al Jazeera.’
Afeef Ibn Albara asserted, ‘Saudi Arab likely to suspend oil exports to India, reports Al Jazeera.’
Fardin stated, ‘Saudi Arab likely to suspend oil exports to India, reports Al Jazeera.’
Besides this, NHS media and Jasim Uddin Zoha also shared these claims.
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During our fact-checking process, as the social media claim cited Al Jazeera as the source, we visited the Al Jazeera website and conducted a search using relevant keywords related to the claim. However, we found no evidence supporting the claim. Additionally, a Google search for the viral claim yielded no such information or credible media reports.
Furthermore, we found a news report from The Indian Express published in October 2024, which stated that India’s crude oil imports had recovered sequentially in September, as several refineries undergoing maintenance were expected to resume operations in October. Notably, the recovery in import volumes was led by Saudi Arabia, which reduced its prices to regain some of its lost market share in India, according to ship tracking data and industry analysts. Oil imports from Russia—India’s largest source of crude oil—also increased in September as India’s overall oil demand grew.
While it is true that Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as India’s top supplier of crude oil over the past year, recent data shows that Saudi Arabia has made a significant recovery in terms of trade volumes.
As per the consulate general website of Jeddah, in terms of trade, Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trade partner, while India is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trade partner. During FY 2022-23, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia amounted to $42.03 billion, while exports to Saudi Arabia totaled $10.72 billion, marking a 22.48% increase compared to FY 2021-22. Overall, trade with Saudi Arabia accounted for 4.53% of India’s total trade during FY 2022-23.
In conclusion, the claim that Saudi Arabia plans to cease oil exports to India is entirely false and baseless. On the contrary, Saudi Arabia has lowered its oil prices to encourage substantial imports by India, underscoring the continued strength of their trade relationship.
| Claim | Saudi Arabia will stop exporting oil to India, as reported by Al Jazeera. |
| Claimed by | Pakistani social media users |
| Fact Check | This claim is false; no credible evidence supports it, and Saudi Arabia has recently lowered oil prices to boost exports to India. |
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