Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation’s largest oil firm, is not discussing a term or fixed quantity deal for import of Russian oil given the volatility in the international market, Chairman A S Sahney said on Wednesday. India’s import of Russian oil has surged since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022. Russia was India’s top crude oil supplier for the third consecutive year in 2024-25, primarily driven by attractive discounts on Russian crude. The discounts, which have narrowed since, offset the logistical challenges and longer shipping times associated with sourcing oil from Russia. Sahney said the share of Russian oil in the basket of oil that IOC imports for refining into fuels like petrol and diesel, has come down to 22-23 per cent from 30 per cent.
“It has to meet my requirements and also be commercially viable,” he told reporters here.
The crude, he said, has to fit into the company’s rigorous optimisation model which looks at producing the fuel that market wants from the most economically available source.
“It has to make commercial sense for me to import oil from a particular source,” he said, adding the decision is not driven by sanctions or any other geopolitical issue.
Asked if the company was looking at getting into a term import deal for Russian crude, he said, “No. As of now, we are not in any active negotiations but we are open to it.”
“We are waiting and watching because everyday things are changing,” he said. “I don’t think it is time to enter into any new term deal in these conditions.”
On imports from the US, he said there is no ‘mandate’ from anyone to import a particular quantity of oil from any part of the world.
“We import if it makes commercial sense,” he said.
The US has emerged as a significant crude oil supplier to India, which is more than 85 per cent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs.
Increasing oil and gas imports from the US has been talked about as one of the bargaining chips that India may use to avoid steep tariffs proposed by the Trump administration. Oil and gas could be part of the trade deal that India may enter into with the US.
