Overview
- India bought €2.5 billion of Russian crude in October and €3.1 billion of Russian fossil fuels overall, second only to China, according to CREA.
- U.S. sanctions announced on October 22 against Rosneft and Lukoil are prompting some refiners to pause purchases and are expected to show up in December trade data.
- State-owned Indian refineries nearly doubled Russian crude volumes in October as private refiners still accounted for more than two-thirds of total imports.
- Rosneft’s Vadinar refinery lifted utilization to about 90% and increased Russian crude intake by 32% month on month, even as some Indian buyers halted orders.
- Russia shipped roughly 60 million barrels of crude in October, with about 45 million from Rosneft and Lukoil, while the Urals discount narrowed to about $4.92 per barrel below Brent.