MOSCOW: India’s Russian oil imports slipped in January, continuing a downturn that began in December, as refiners sought more alternative barrels under Western sanctions pressure and ongoing US-India trade talks, sources said and data showed.
Analysts and traders have said Moscow faces a steep decline in oil and gas revenue, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the Russian government’s budget revenue, if Washington succeeds in persuading India to stop importing Russia’s oil.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India to cut tariffs to 18pc from 50pc in exchange for New Delhi halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers. Indian refiners have been redrawing crude import strategies in recent months to shift away from top supplier Russia and boost imports from the Middle East.
India imported 1.215 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in January, of which the Nayara refinery accounted for 0.41 million bpd, with IOC and BPCL taking 0.58 million bpd and 0.19 million bpd, respectively, while Reliance imported no Russian crude last month, according to provisional data from analytics firm Kpler. India’s Russian oil imports in January were down by some 12pc on a daily basis from December. Those oil imports in December dropped about 22pc from November to 1.38 million barrels per day. “Our base case is that India will largely exit from sanctioned counterparties, but will maintain Russian imports at around 0.81.0 million bpd, accounting for 1721pc of total crude imports,” J.P. Morgan said in a note.
Russia upbeat
However, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday it had no reason to believe that India had reconsidered its approach to Russian oil imports following a trade deal New Delhi struck with the United States.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing that oil trade was beneficial to both countries and contributed to maintaining stability in the international energy market.
India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s largest refining complex, will buy up to 150,000 barrels per day of Russian oil from February for its domestic market-focused refinery, a company executive said last week. The country’s largest refiner overall, Indian Oil Corp, has committed to buying more Brazilian crude in the fiscal year starting April, after reducing Russian oil imports.
Energy supply
India aims to diversify its energy sources amid changing global circumstances, the country’s trade minister said on Wednesday, two days after the US slashed tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for New Delhi halting Russian oil purchases.
In his first statement to the parliament on the trade deal, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal did not specifically refer to shifting energy purchases away from any country.
“To secure the energy needs of 1.4 billion Indians is our priority. Given the changing global circumstances, diversifying of energy sources is part of this strategy,” he said.
He noted India had successfully protected sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy. The Kremlin said it sees nothing new in India’s plan to diversify its oil supplies.
“We, and not only us, but all specialists in the field of international energy affairs, are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Indian refiners have not been told by the government to stop buying Russian oil and would need a wind-down period to complete purchases already in process, Reuters reported. The Asian market had witnessed a relief rally on Tuesday as the India-US deal marked reconciliation between the two sides after months of tensions.
India’s equity benchmarks, however, ended marginally higher on Wednesday as losses in IT stocks dampened optimism over the trade deal.
Lawmakers from India’s key opposition party Congress have questioned the lack of detail regarding the deal and have sought clarification on the extent of farm access offered to Washington.
Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2026