Russia accounted for 38 per cent of oil supplies for India’s 5.1 million barrels of crude oil bought in May, 2025, says a report by ship-tracking data from Kpler. Iraq was the second-largest supplier, with 1.2 million bpd of sales to India.
With this, India’s imports of Russian crude oil reached a 10-month high of 1.96 million barrels per day in the last month. The country, which is the world’s third-largest oil-importing and consuming nation, converts this into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries.
India’s oil supply from Russia continues to be driven by availability of significant discounts compared to global benchmark prices, adds the data.
Meanwhile, other countries that India imported oil from, include Saudi Arabia, which exported 6,15,000 bpd, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) supplied 4,90,000 bpd. The United States delivered 2,80,000 bpd, underscoring India’s push to diversify import sources and balance geopolitical exposure.
“Overall, India’s crude import profile for May 2025 highlights its price-sensitive, diversified sourcing strategy. Russian volumes remain elevated despite external pressures, reinforcing the primacy of economic pragmatism in India’s energy policy,” said Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst at Refining & Modeling at Kpler.
India’s shift from sourcing oil from just the Middle East to also include Russia began after the latter’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. This was mostly because Russian oil was available at a much-discounted rate as compared with other international benchmarks due to Western sanctions and some European countries shunning purchases.
India’s oil imports growth from Russia saw a sudden jump from less than 1 per cent to almost 40-44 per cent in a short while.
A key advantage lies in the pricing of Urals crude from Russia, which, although not always steeply discounted, remains significantly cheaper than West African and Middle Eastern grades.
“This pricing edge has supported stronger refinery gross margins for Indian processors. For instance, in May, average FOB prices for Urals stood around USD 50 per barrel, comfortably below the USD 60 a barre; price cap set by Western allies,” said Ritolia.
Kpler data suggests a modest rebound in Russian refinery throughput, potentially increasing by 1,00,000-3,00,000 bpd in the coming months.
With the monsoon season approaching, some Indian refiners may reduce crude runs, which could temporarily affect imports, particularly of sweeter grades, Ritolia noted.
The price discount on Russian oil, sometimes as much as USD 18-20 per barrel lower than the market price of other oil, has allowed India to procure oil at a much cheaper rate. The discounts have, however, shrunk in recent times to less than a fifth of the peak. In December 2022, the G7 countries imposed a price cap of USD 60 per barrel on Russian seaborne crude oil exports.
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