On Tuesday, citing preliminary official statistics, Bloomberg reported that Iraq lowered its prices for petroleum products to India in February in an attempt to compete with the steady flow of discounted Russian crude,

According to the report, the price of Iraqi crude had been averaging $76.19 per barrel, compared to $78.92 in January. According to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry however, Russian crude was selling at $72.14 per barrel, somewhat lower month on month.

At the same time Saudi crude was the most expensive for buyers in India in February, costing $87.66 per barrel, an increase from $85.45 one month prior.

India has been steadily shifting its purchases from the Middle East to Russian supplies. Energy cargo tracker Vortexa recently presented data showing that India’s purchases of Russian oil reached an all-time high of 1.64 million barrels per day in March.

For six months in a row, Russia has been the top supplier of crude to India, with its share of India’s purchases hitting 34% in March – a number twice the amount purchased from former top-supplier Iraq.

Last month Iraq reportedly exported 821,952 bpd, rendering it the third-largest supplier after Saudi-Arabia, which shipped 986,288 bpd.

As the third largest oil consumer, India has carved out a niche for itself recently, acting, as one outlet phrased it, a “back door” to cheap Russian petroleum products. As a result, India has been ramping up its purchases, refining the product to fuels such as diesel and gasoline, and then supplying them at a discount to countries which have sworn off cheap Russian energy in response to the conflict in Ukraine, but which still are seeking out cheap energy to fuel their economies.