New Delhi: Indian refiners are moving quickly to plug the gap in supply of US sanctions-hit Russian crude, lifting their first cargo from Guyana in two years, and ramping up imports from Saudi Arabia by about a third in January as they seek to meet strong energy demand at home.
In the first half of the month, refiners procured about 297,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Guyana, according to Kpler, a global real-time data and analytics provider.
Guyana is rapidly emerging as a new global oil producer backed by major discoveries and fast-rising output. The South American nation has however remained outside India’s preferred sourcing basket due to the long shipping distance. With Russian supplies declining, Indian refiners are now increasingly tapping Guyana as an alternative.
Imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq in West Asia, and from Nigeria and Angola in Africa, have also risen this month amid strong oil demand in India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer and importer.
Russia remains India’s top supplier, with volumes of about 1.179 million bpd in the first half of January, though declining about 3 per cent sequentially, and about 30 per cent below the 2025 average. Supplies from Iraq, the second-largest supplier, rose 18 per cent month-on-month to about 1.071 million bpd, while imports from Saudi Arabia jumped 36 per cent to around 954,000 bpd, Kpler data showed.
Supplies from Nigeria nearly doubled sequentially to about 305,000 bpd, while imports from Angola almost tripled to around 195,000 bpd.
Imports from the UAE fell 40 per cent to about 352,000 bpd, while shipments from the US were largely flat at around 349,000 bpd in the first half of January.
A clearer picture on India’s crude sourcing shifts is likely to emerge by the month-end, but early data suggests refiners are tapping new or previously marginal sources to meet incremental demand as Russian supplies shrink and uncertainty rises amid mounting US pressure.
Indian Oil, Nayara Energy, and Bharat Petroleum were the only refiners to receive Russian cargoes in the first half of January. Reliance Industries, India’s largest importer of Russian crude over the past year, didn’t lift any Russian cargo in the period. Hindustan Petroleum, HPCL-Mittal Energy, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals also did not take Russian supplies.
With the Trump administration sanctioning Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil exporters, the bulk of India’s Russian crude imports has shifted to little-known traders that had barely supplied the country in the past.
