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yesterday

Sanctions Drive India’s Russian Oil Imports to Three-Year Low as Trade Reroutes

Refiners pivot to intermediaries, with analysts forecasting a gradual early‑2026 rebound.

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Drilling operations at a drill rig, operated by Rosneft PJSC. The Samotlor oil field near Nizhnevartovsk, Russia, March 21, 2017.Samotlorneftegaz is one of the largest extracting enterprises of Rosneft, which is developing the central and south-western part of the Samotlor oil and gas field, one of the largest fields in Russia.The area of the license block of Samotlor, developed by Samotlorneftegaz is 1,751 sq. meters. At the field there are about 8,300 production wells and more than 2,700 injection wells, with the latest high-tech equipment. The length of the oil pipelines 1,140 km, water pipelines 1,223 km, other pipelines 2,833 km.
Russian oil accounted for a quarter of India's imports in December, the lowest for a month in 2025. | Representational image | Bloomberg
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Overview

  • India’s Russian crude receipts in December are estimated at roughly 1.1–1.3 million barrels a day, down from 1.84 million in November and the lowest since late 2022, according to Kpler.
  • Rosneft and Lukoil’s share of Russian loadings bound for India slid to about 17% in December from 63% in November as direct deals were curtailed.
  • New conduits emerged with little-known traders such as Redwood Global Supply, Alghaf Marine, RusExport, Ethos Energy, Arcadia International, Rosewood Resources and Vistula Delta stepping in, many linked to the UAE.
  • Reliance paused purchases after the sanctions then resumed buying from non-blacklisted sellers, while other refiners cut intake and increased sourcing from the Middle East, West Africa and the Americas.
  • Urals delivered to India traded near a $6.50-per-barrel discount, about $4.50 narrower than before the sanctions, and December tallies may be revised as some tankers departed without declared discharge ports.