Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Why is India so eager to buy Russian oil?

India is the world’s third-largest crude consumer after the United States and China, and imports 85 percent of its needs

Why is India so eager to buy Russian oil?

Following Russia’s military deployment to Ukraine in February last year, the nation’s share of the European market plummeted when it came to oil supplies, resulting in sanctions on the country's oil sector by Kyiv’s allies.

But, India is snapping up discounted crude from Russia, refining it and selling it. The US has not been very happy with the development and has said Russia is not reaping the benefits of higher costs of some recent cargoes of crude oil bought by refiners in India.


New Delhi has resisted Western pressure to freeze out Moscow, opting instead to strengthen trade ties with its long-standing ally -- with the added benefits of tempering inflation while saving money.

Last week, Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said sales of Russian oil to India increased by more than twenty times last year. More Russian oil is expected to flow into India as Russian energy corporation Rosneft declared a new agreement to increase oil sales to India.

How much Russian oil is India buying?

India is the world's third-largest crude consumer after the United States and China, and imports 85 percent of its needs. Previously its main suppliers were in the Middle East. Now, Russia is number one.

For isolated Moscow, India and China have become its top customers.

In March, India imported from Russia 1.62 million barrels per day (bpd), 40 percent of its total oil imports, according to the International Energy Agency, up from around 70,000 bpd and just one percent of inflows before the war.

On Wednesday, Russian energy giant Rosneft announced a deal to "substantially increase" supplies to the state-owned Indian Oil Company following a visit to India by CEO Igor Sechin.

Has buying Russian oil helped Indians pay less for fuel? 

India saved $3.6 billion by importing discounted crude oil from Russia, in the 10 months after the outbreak of the war, a member of parliament said in December.

Savings have likely grown more since with energy cargo trackers reporting that India is purchasing Russia's flagship Urals crude well below the $60 per barrel price cap introduced by the G7 in December.

"As the world's third-largest consumer of oil and gas, a consumer where the levels of income are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to international markets," Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said in Moscow in November.

What happens to Russian oil in India? 

India has 23 oil refineries refining 249 million tonnes of oil a year, making it the world's fourth-biggest refiner.

Asia's richest person Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries runs the world's largest refinery in Gujarat, where he has ramped up purchases of Russian oil.

Together with India's second-largest refiner Nayara -- of which Russia's Rosneft owns 49 percent -- Reliance imports 45 percent of Russian crude that comes into India, data from cargo tracking firm Vortexa shows.

And then it goes back to the West? 

Much of the refined product goes to Indian consumers. But thanks to a surplus India has emerged as a major supplier of petrol and diesel -- some of it refined from Russian crude -- to Europe and elsewhere.

India's petroleum product exports to the European Union rose 20.4 percent year on year between April and January to 11.6 million tonnes, the Indian Express daily reported, citing official data, adding that Indian refiners were enjoying "robust margins".

How is this allowed? 

Despite sanctions on Moscow, this does not fall foul of European Union rules because the refined products are not deemed to have come from Russia.

It also helps the bloc avoid supply problems, which would push up prices for consumers already reeling from galloping inflation.

"The world will have a very hard time to live without Russian oil," Vortexa chief economist David Wech told AFP, saying cutting Moscow out completely would cause a "deep recession".

According to a Bloomberg report published in February, India's role will "only become more central to a global oil map that's been redrawn by Vladimir Putin's year-long war in Ukraine" as Europe ramps up its sanctions.

Despite India's purchases, Russia is still earning less than it did prior to the invasion from its oil exports -- in part because of the additional cost and difficulties such as obtaining insurance to ship its crude halfway around the world.

"There is a certain beauty to it, if I can call it that," Wech said.

(AFP)

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less