Indian refiners have bought about 30 million barrels of Russian oil since the US provided a green light for purchases to help the country cope with a shortfall of Middle Eastern supply, according to people with knowledge of the deals.
India had been winding down its purchases of Russian oil since last year in response to US pressure, filling the gap with replacement barrels from Saudi Arabia and Iraq – only to find supplies cut off by a widening conflict in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the region’s major producers to the rest of the world, has been effectively closed since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began.
Since the US waiver was granted late last week, refiners in the South Asian nation including Indian Oil Corp. and Reliance Industries Ltd. have snapped up all unsold cargoes of Russian crude in the spot market, said the people, asking not too be named as they’re not authorized to speak to media. The oil was loaded but uncommitted, and much of it was already in Asian waters.
Russian crude – comprising a broad sweep of grades including Urals, ESPO and Varandey – has been offered at premiums of between $2 and $8 a barrel to London’s Dated Brent benchmark, the people said. Before the war in the Middle East, Russian oil traded at discounts to the same marker.
Around 10 million barrels of the Russian crude was bought by state-owned Indian Oil, while Reliance purchased at least as much, the traders said.
Indian Oil and Reliance did not respond to requests for comment.
The US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, said the South Asian nation had been a “great partner in maintaining stable oil prices around the world” and that purchases of Russian crude were part of the effort. He made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday.
The US waiver covered transactions related to Russian crude and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before March 5, so long as it’s delivered to India and purchased by an Indian firm.
Since then, tankers that had been moving away from the subcontinent have u-turned. Among them, the Maylo and the Sarah – carrying Urals loaded at Russia’s western ports – have changed course to head toward India after originally signaling Singapore as their destination.
The shift isn’t limited to cargoes from Russia’s west. The Oasis and Noble Walker, laden with ESPO from the country’s Far East, have also altered course after initially signaling China.
India, which didn’t traditionally take much Russian oil, ramped up purchases after the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 – eventually incurring the wrath of the Trump administration, eager to crank up pressure on the Kremlin. Russian oil is not itself sanctioned, but Washington has blacklisted the country’s two largest producers.
Buying peaked at more than 2 million barrels a day in mid-2024, but dropped to an average of 1.06 million barrels a day in February, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
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