Indian oil companies arranged to collect 61 percent more crude oil from West Africa last month, according to vessel charters collated by the research unit of Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker.

Indian Oil Corp., the nation’s largest refiner, and Bharat Petroleum Corp. between them hired six vessels to load 9.2 million barrels of cargo last month, up from 5.7 million barrels in November, data on the website of Clarkson Research Services Ltd. show.

That compares with an overall decline in the amount of shipments reported, which fell 16 percent to 81 million barrels. Shipbrokers aren’t compelled to report ship charters so data capture can vary from month to month.

U.S. oil companies hired enough carriers to load 24.1 million barrels in West Africa, a 40 percent drop from November, the data show. China-bound shipments fell to 5.7 million barrels from 15.2 million in November.

Nigeria and Angola, West Africa’s two biggest exporters, had combined output of 3.92 million barrels a day in November, or 121.5 million for the month, according to Bloomberg estimates.

They’re scheduled to ship a combined 3.69 million barrels a day this month, according to loading programs obtained by Bloomberg News.