India’s reliance on Russian crude hit a record high in July, accounting for over half of its oil imports amid shifting supply dynamics and regional conflicts, highlighting a geopolitical realignment in energy sourcing.
India’s appetite for Russian crude reached a new high in July, with Russia accounting for 50.83% of the country’s oil imports, according to Reuters, citing industry data from Kpler. The average daily intake rose to 2.47 million barrels, up 62.4% from a year earlier, although it was slightly below June’s record volume. The figures underline how quickly India has swung back towards Russian supply after a brief slowdown at the start of the year.
That earlier restraint came amid concern among refiners that higher US tariffs could complicate purchases. But pressure in the Middle East has since pushed Indian buyers back towards Russian barrels, as conflict risk and shipping disruption have made alternative supply less predictable. Reuters said the share of imports from Middle Eastern producers fell to 30% between April and July, down from 43% in the same period a year earlier.
India, which imports more than 90% of the oil it consumes, is the world’s third-largest crude buyer. Over the first four months of the current financial year, which began in April, Russian oil made up 43.25% of India’s imports, putting Moscow ahead of all other suppliers. The United Arab Emirates and Iraq completed the top three, according to the Reuters report.
The broader energy picture is less comfortable for both sides. Bloomberg reported that Russia has started importing petrol from India for the first time after Ukrainian strikes hit Russian refineries, with the first shipment arriving on 5 August. Analysts quoted by Bloomberg and EA Analytics said this points to a serious fuel shortage inside Russia, where July refinery throughput was estimated at about 3.6 million barrels a day, roughly a third below typical seasonal levels. S&P Global has also warned that Indian importers are facing added strain from chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, making supply diversification harder and more expensive.
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