The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’s share of the world’s third-biggest oil importer’s import fell to the lowest in at least two decades in the year-to-end of March as the overall purchases by India fell to a six-year low.

According to data obtained from industry and trade sources by Reuters, total crude imports by Asia third-largest economy fell to 3.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 2021 fiscal year to March 31, down 11.8% from a year ago.

The reason for the fall is because India purchased more crude from the U.S. and Canada as opposed to its regular purchases from Africa and the Middle East, reducing purchases from OPEC Member Countries to around 2.86 million barrels per day and reducing the Group’s share of imports from 80% to 72%. This is the lowest share since at least the 2001/02 fiscal year.

According to government data released last month, India’s annual fuel demand in 2020/21 fell for the first time in at least 23 years, hitting its lowest since 2016/17. It showed that the share of Middle East producers rose to about 62% in the 2020/21 year from 60% in the previous year as refiners took committed volumes under annual oil contracts.

Oil from the United States oil accounted for about 7% of India’s imports while Canadian oil accounted for about 1.3% compared to 4.5% and 0.60% in the previous year.

Iraq was the top supplier to India, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and the United States.

In March 2021, India imported 4.39 million bpd, 12% more than in February as refineries ramped up output, although that was still a drop of around 0.5% from March 2020. Iraq remained the top supplier for the month, followed by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the U.S.