New Delhi, July 8 -- India has flipped the composition of its official crude basket after disruptions to West Asian oil supplies during the Iran conflict reshaped its crude import mix, giving Brent-linked crude a higher weight than Dubai-Oman sour crude for the first time in the available PPAC data series since 2001. The share of Dubai-Oman sour crude in the Indian crude basket has been cut to 20.60%, the lowest since comparable data became available in 2001, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Brent-linked sweet crude now accounts for 79.40% of the basket, up from 71.02% in June, 70% in May and 61.02% in April, according to PPAC data. West Asia's share in India's crude imports fell to around 22% in June, according to Kpler data, from 60-70% before the Iran conflict erupted on 28 February, as refiners replaced disrupted West Asian supplies with Russian, US, Venezuelan and West African barrels. The Indian crude basket is a pricing benchmark that reflects refiners' crude procurement costs. Although India imports oil from about 41 countries, the basket comprises only the globally traded Brent and Dubai-Oman benchmarks. Russian crude-the country's largest import source-is excluded because it is not exchange traded. The basket is typically reweighted annually based on the previous year's import pattern and does not materially affect fuel pricing or supply contracts. Before the Iran conflict, Dubai-Oman crude accounted for roughly 70% of the basket. The latest revision reflects refiners' growing reliance on Russian, Venezuelan and West African barrels after disruptions to West Asian supplies following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Iran war. The change comes as Gulf producers face stiffer competition in Asia. A recent HSBC report said Asian buyers, particularly India, Japan and South Korea, have sharply increased purchases from the US Gulf Coast and other Atlantic Basin producers, including South America, as substitutes for disrupted West Asian supplies. Mint earlier reported, citing Kpler data, that India's Russian crude imports averaged 2.66 million barrels a day during 1-19 June, accounting for half of the country's crude imports....