India has emerged as a key supplier of petrol to Russia as repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries disrupt domestic fuel production and force Moscow to turn to overseas markets.
Indian refiners have supplied as much as 1 million barrels of gasoline to Russia over the past two months, with most of the shipments coming from Gujarat's Vadinar refinery, according to trade sources cited by PTI.
Russia's seaborne gasoline imports surged to a record of around 125,000 barrels per day (kbd) in August, equivalent to an estimated 470,000 tonnes for the month, as attacks on its energy infrastructure disrupted refinery operations, according to energy analytics firm Vortexa, as quoted by PTI.
The supplies from India essentially came from Nayara Energy's Vadinar refinery in Gujarat. The refinery is 50% owned by Russia's Rosneft.
The development marks a notable shift in the India-Russia energy trade. Since 2022, India has significantly increased its purchases of Russian crude oil, using it as a major feedstock for producing fuels such as petrol and diesel.
India's imports of Russian crude reached a record level in June and July, with purchases exceeding 2.6 million barrels per day, up from around 1 million bpd in February, as per PTI report. Russian crude accounted for more than half of India's total crude oil imports during the period.
This also raises the possibility that some of the petrol shipped from India to Russia was produced using Russian crude oil.
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Russia, one of the world's largest crude oil exporters, has been forced to import gasoline after Ukrainian drone attacks on its energy infrastructure caused domestic production to fall by as much as 70%. The disruption has created a fuel supply crunch, prompting Moscow to import petroleum products while maintaining restrictions on fuel sales in several parts of the country.
India, Turkey and Morocco supplied gasoline to Russia in August as the country struggled with a growing gap between domestic fuel supply and demand.
Russia in July extended its full gasoline export ban for both producers and non-producers until the end of January 2027. Its diesel export ban was also extended through September 1, 2026.
According to Vortexa, around 55%, or approximately 260,000 tonnes, of Russia's imported gasoline in August arrived on sanctioned tonnage.
"All India-origin gasoline cargoes Russia imported in August were carried on sanctioned fleets and involved dark ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Mediterranean," Vortexa said, as quoted by PTI.
Overall, around 40% of Russia's gasoline imports in August were transported through ship-to-ship transfers, with most of the operations conducted in the dark. In such cases, vessels switched off their automatic identification system (AIS) signals, making them harder to track.
Meanwhile, Russian diesel exports remain severely constrained by the country's export restrictions, refinery damage and disruptions at fuel terminals. The report further said 32 attacks were carried out on Russian refineries during July and August, averaging roughly one attack every other day.
Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports stood at around 150,000 bpd through August 25, Vortexa said. The figure was broadly unchanged month-on-month but was down by 610,000 bpd from a year earlier and 81% below the five-year seasonal average.
Vortexa expects Russia to continue importing some gasoline in the near term, citing the country's historically lower gasoline-to-diesel production yields.
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