Indian refiners have not placed new orders for Russian oil purchases since sanctions were imposed, as they await clarity from the government and suppliers, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Some refiners are tapping the spot markets to meet their crude oil needs, said the sources, who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to media.
Indian Oil has issued a tender for purchase of oil while conglomerate Reliance Industries has boosted purchases from spot markets, according to sources.
The European Union, the UK and the US have imposed a raft of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including fresh US sanctions on Thursday that target Russia’s two top oil producers Lukoil and Rosneft.
Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with the new US sanctions, Reuters reported on Thursday, potentially removing a major hurdle to a trade deal with the US
Last week, Reliance, the top Indian buyer of Russian oil, said it will abide by the sanctions while maintaining its relationship with current oil suppliers. Reuters also reported that the firm plans to stop importing oil from Rosneft.
“We have not placed orders yet for fresh cargoes and have cancelled some that were booked from traders with links to the sanctioned entities,” said one of the sources.
“We need to ensure that our purchases are not linked to sanctioned entities as banks will not facilitate payments,” a third source said.
A separate source said his firm is waiting to see if it can get cargoes from non-sanctioned traders or entities.
India bought 1.9 million barrels per day in the first nine months of 2025, or 40 per cent of Russia’s total exports, according to the International Energy Agency.
India’s Russian oil imports between April and September fell 8.4 per cent on year due to narrower discounts and tighter supplies, with refiners seeking more oil from the Middle East and the US, according to trade sources and shipping data.
