New Delhi: State-run Indian Oil Corp and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy have ramped up purchase of Russian crude this month. India’s total imports from Russia, however, slid under US sanctions, with Reliance Industries, the largest buyer over the past year, taking no supplies.
India’s imports of Russian oil averaged 1.18 million barrels per day in the first half of this month, down about 30 per cent both from a year earlier and the 2025 average, according to Kpler, a global real-time data and analytics provider. Imports were about 3 per cent lower compared with December.
US sanctions have sharply shrunk India’s buyer pool for Russian crude, leaving just Indian Oil, Nayara and Bharat Petroleum Corporation lifting cargoes so far this month.
Indian Oil received about half a million barrels a day, accounting for roughly 43 per cent of total Russian crude shipped to India. This was Indian Oil’s highest average intake since May 2024 and 64 per cent higher than its 2025 average.
Nayara, which has become entirely dependent on Russian oil since it was sanctioned by the EU last year, was the second-largest buyer so far this month. Its imports of about 471,000 barrels per day—roughly 40 per cent of Russian volumes shipped to India so far—were the highest in at least two years and 56 per cent higher than its average intake in 2025.
BPCL received about 200,000 barrels per day, compared with its average of 185,000 barrels last year. Besides Reliance Industries, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd have not received any Russian cargoes in the first half of this month.
Reduced interest from some Indian and Chinese buyers has prompted Russian suppliers to deepen discounts. Industry executives say discounts on Russia’s flagship Urals crude have increased to about $5-6 a barrel for delivery at Indian ports from about $2 before the US sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil, Moscow’s top two exporters, last October.
Indian Oil increased its intake of Russian oil in January to take advantage of this discount, industry executives said.
Indian refiners began recalibrating their strategy on discounted Russian crude after the US last year criticised India’s purchases and threatened additional tariffs. Some refiners moderated imports after an additional 25 per cent tariff took effect in late August on Indian exports to the US.
However, US sanctions imposed on Rosneft and Lukoil triggered a sharper aversion to Russian oil. Indian refiners—except probably Rosneft-backed Nayara—have largely stopped taking cargoes from sanctioned suppliers, according to executives. Reliance Industries, which has a term deal with Rosneft, has stopped receiving cargoes from Rosneft as well as from other Russian suppliers, according to Kpler data.
