India’s record Russian oil purchases help keep EU fueled – report
India’s imports of Russian crude rose 10% in October to record levels from the previous month, as the country’s three largest refineries sharply raised their purchases, data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed.
India bought 37% of Russian crude exports in October at a total cost of $6.41 billion, making it the second largest buyer of Russian oil, the data showed. India’s total fossil fuel imports from Russia came in at $7.07 billion, its highest monthly total in data going back to January 2022, the CREA said on Thursday.
Ten shipments of fuel, refined from Russian crude, were sent to EU ports last month by the massive Jamnagar refinery in India, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance. European nations also bought two such fuel shipments from Türkiye’s STAR refinery. It had bought seven such shipments in September.
The Helsinki-based CREA describes itself as an independent research organization but explicitly supports Ukraine and says it uses its resources to “eliminate” Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuel and help implement sanctions on Moscow.
The EU was also the third-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, after China and India, accounting for 11% of Russia’s export revenues from its top five buyers.
India has said ensuring energy security for the country’s 1.4 billion population is its priority and has continued to purchase large quantities of Russian energy despite a Western price cap and US tariffs. US President Donald Trump last month waived the steep tariffs mandated by a new sanctions law on Russia’s oil buyers, citing national security reasons, after India pushed back saying the tariffs could impact bilateral ties.
Global diesel and gas oil availability fell by 1.7 million barrels per day in the third quarter, from a year ago, figures from the International Energy Agency and the Energy Institute showed. Wholesale diesel prices surpassed $200 per barrel in September, and reached around $220 in Europe and the US.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Jamnagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, last month in an attempt to push Reliance to pump more diesel into global markets to moderate elevated prices.
Several Indian refineries, including Jamnagar, are equipped to refine Russian and Venezuelan crude, which yield large volumes of diesel. The refinery bought 22% more oil from Russia in October, making it the biggest importer of seaborne Russian crude in the period.
The EU has a $44.1 price cap on Russian oil but the Urals-grade crude sold at $101.7 per barrel in October, up by 13% month-on-month.
