India's Russian Oil Imports Hit Record For Second Month In Row Even As 100% Tariff Sword Looms

India's imports of Russian crude oil hit a record for the second consecutive month in July, highlighting the country's continued dependence on discounted Russian supplies despite tighter Western sanctions on Moscow's energy exports.

Indian buyers imported Russian crude worth 5.5 billion euros in July, up 2.1% from June, according to data compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Crude oil accounted for 87% of India's total Russian fossil fuel imports during the month.

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In June, India imported Russian crude worth 4.5 billion euros, accounting for 83% of its total Russian fossil fuel purchases of 5.5 billion euros. The 2.1% increase in July was in volume terms, rather than value.

India's reliance on Russian crude has increased sharply since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Western sanctions and the exit of European buyers pushed Moscow to offer steep discounts to Asian refiners, making Russian crude increasingly attractive to Indian buyers.

Russia supplied less than 1,00,000 barrels per day to India in 2021, accounting for about 2.5% of the country's crude imports, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Supplies increased to about 7,40,000 bpd in 2022 and nearly 1.8 million bpd in 2023. Russia became India's largest crude supplier that year, accounting for about 39% of total imports.

The dependence has increased further since then. Indian refiners imported a record 2.8 million bpd of Russian crude in July 2026, accounting for about 55.5% of India's total crude imports of just over 5 million bpd.

This was significantly higher than the roughly 1.8 million bpd of Russian crude imported by India on average in 2024.

"India was the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in July 2026, importing a total of 6.4 billion euros worth of Russian hydrocarbons. Crude oil constituted 87% of India's purchases, totalling 5.5 billion euros. Coal (512 million euros) and oil products (341 million euro) constituted the remainder of their monthly Russian imports," CREA said.

The increase in crude purchases in July was driven primarily by a rise in imports through smaller terminals, rather than through India's two largest recipients of Russian crude, Jamnagar and Paradip.

Imports through HMEL Mundra rose 58% from June, while volumes received at Indian Oil's Vadinar SMPL terminal increased 35%. Imports through Mumbai rose 37%. Volumes at Jamnagar, one of the world's largest refining complexes, were unchanged from the previous month, while imports through Paradip fell 22%.

The shift in import flows meant that India's record monthly intake was not dependent on higher volumes at its two largest Russian-crude receiving terminals. Instead, increased receipts at several other ports more than offset the decline at Paradip.

India has emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian crude since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, accounting for 37% of Russia's crude oil exports over the period covered by CREA's analysis, behind China at 50%.

The continued growth in Indian purchases comes as Russia's overall fossil fuel export revenues weakened. Russian crude export revenues were broadly flat in July at 392 million euros a day, with a 21% monthly decline in pipeline crude earnings offset by a 7% increase in seaborne crude revenue.

The average price of Russia's Urals crude fell 3% in July to $60.22 a barrel, according to CREA. That remained substantially above the USD 44.10-a-barrel G7 and EU price cap that took effect in February 2026.

India's importance to the Russian oil trade extends beyond direct crude purchases. Refineries in India that process Russian crude also remain significant exporters of refined products to countries imposing sanctions on Russia.

In July, refineries in India, Turkiye, Brunei and Georgia that use Russian crude exported oil products worth a combined 633 million euros to sanctioning countries, CREA said. Of that total, 214 million euros went to the European Union, 184 million euros to Australia and 234 million euros to the United States.

CREA estimated that 284 million euros of those exports were refined from Russian crude.

India was among the largest sources of such shipments. Five cargoes from Indian refineries using Russian crude were unloaded at EU ports in July despite the bloc's ban on imports of oil products made from Russian crude, which took effect on January 21.

Exports to the United States also originated from India's Jamnagar refinery, while the refinery's Russian crude feedstock remained significant. In the three months through July, Russian crude accounted for about 35% of Jamnagar's feedstock, according to CREA.

The United States received refined-product shipments originating from Jamnagar in July, alongside cargoes from Turkiye's STAR refinery and Georgia's Kulevi refinery.

The data highlights the increasingly important role played by India not only as a direct buyer of Russian crude but also as a refining and trading hub for Russian oil entering global markets in processed form.

At the same time, India's purchases come against a backdrop of falling Russian oil product exports. Russian oil product loadings dropped 23% in July to 4.7 million tonnes, their lowest level on record and less than half the 9.6 million tonnes loaded in July 2025.

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The contrast between record Indian crude purchases and the broader weakness in Russian refined-product exports suggests that Russian crude continues to find a major outlet in Asian refining markets even as Moscow faces tighter constraints on refinery output and product exports.

For Russia, India's sustained demand provides an important source of export revenue at a time when crude earnings from other routes are under pressure. For India's refiners, Russian crude remains an important source of feedstock, particularly for large export-oriented refining complexes capable of processing a wide range of crude grades.

(With PTI Inputs)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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