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RIYADH: Oil fell on Thursday as expectations of weaker demand and a strong US dollar ahead of a potentially large interest rate increase outweighed supply concerns.

Brent crude was down 56 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $93.54 a barrel at 1pm Saudi time. 

US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 44 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $88.04.

Saudi Arabia overtakes Russia to become India’s No. 2 supplier

Saudi Arabia emerged as the second-biggest oil supplier to India after a three-month gap, overtaking Russia by a thin margin, while Iraq retained the top spot in August, data from industry and trade sources showed.

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, shipped in 863,950 barrels per day of crude from Saudi Arabia, up 4.8 percent from the previous month, while purchases from Russia fell 2.4 percent to 855,950 bpd, the data showed.

Despite Saudi’s gain, the share of oil from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in India fell to 59.8 percent, the lowest in at least 16 years as India cut African imports.

India has become Russia’s second largest oil buyer after China as others have cut purchases following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

“In the end you cannot cut Saudi supplies because of clauses in term contracts and Russia was able to reduce its discounts because of high demand especially in Asia,” said Ehsan Ul Haq, an analyst with Refinitiv.

India’s overall crude imports in August declined to a five-month low of 4.45 million bpd, down 4.1 percent from July, due to maintenance at some refineries, the data showed. 

Rosneft says it has completed 15 billion yuan bond placement

Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft said on Thursday it had successfully completed its debut yuan-denominated bond placement worth 15 billion yuan ($2.15 billion).

The coupon rate was set at 3.05 percent per year. The funds raised through the bond placement will be used in accordance with the approved Rosneft Business Plan to finance the investment program, the company said.

Rosneft is gradually shifting to foreign trade settlements in Russian roubles and national currencies of “friendly” countries, while optimising its debt portfolio structure, it added.

(With input from Reuters)