Most Indian refineries reject Russian oil – Bloomberg
Photo: India cut purchases of Russian crude oil for December deliveries (Getty Images)
Most Indian oil refineries have stopped purchasing Russian oil. This happened because of anti-Russia sanctions and US–India trade talks, Bloomberg reports.
Sources told the agency that orders for oil for the next month are placed by the 10th of the current month. This month, five Indian companies declined to buy Russian oil for December.
This shift in procurement policy happened after Western sanctions were imposed on the Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
According to Kpler data, five companies accounted for two-thirds of India’s imports of oil from the aggressor country in 2025:
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Reliance Industries Ltd.
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Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd.
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Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.
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Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
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HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.
"Their caution may be partially due to trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington. Trump said Monday the two countries were getting 'pretty close' to a deal," the outlet notes.
Bloomberg, citing sources, reports that during the talks, India committed to buying more oil from the US.
Only two Indian companies plan to purchase Russian oil in December — Indian Oil Corp. and Nayara Energy Ltd.
Indian Oil Corp. bought about 3.5 million barrels of ESPO crude, but the purchase was made from suppliers not subject to the new US sanctions.
Meanwhile, Nayara Energy Ltd. relies entirely on Russian oil, as Rosneft partially owns the company.
India’s purchases of Russian oil
Yesterday, November 10, US leader Donald Trump stated that the US would lower import tariffs on India due to the country’s reduction in purchases of Russian oil.
India is the world’s second-largest importer of Russian oil after China. Because of this, Trump imposed additional tariffs on India to push it to cut its Russian oil imports.
Previously, India barely imported Russian oil, preferring supplies from Middle Eastern countries. However, this changed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of a $60-per-barrel price cap by the G7 countries.
At the same time, India avoided purchasing oil from sanctioned Iran and Venezuela. Russian oil, however, remained allowed and cheaper, resulting in a sharp increase in imports.
