India’s Russian oil imports since Ukraine war soar

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies have leaned on countries to buy less Russian oil in a bid to punish Moscow for its aggression.

Indian refiners have done the opposite, snapping up more Russian crude while the government explores ways to protect domestic oil firms from punishment should they fall foul of sanctions.

The result has been a huge leap in volumes from Russia. In May, India imported 819,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 277,000 bpd in April and 33,000 bpd a year ago. Russia is now the second biggest supplier to India, replacing Saudi Arabia, while Iraq continues to be the largest.

While the increase in volumes is known, some of the ways in which India has communicated its strategy on Russian oil purchases to key players and offered assurances to the companies involved have not been reported.

European countries and the United States have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. While New Delhi has called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, it has not explicitly condemned the invasion, which Russia says is a “special military operation”.

An Indian government official said India plans to continue with purchases of Russian oil, available at a discount that is now narrowing. “If India stops buying oil from Russia, the entire world will be chasing the same pieces of oil and that will further push up oil prices,” he said.

Government and refinery officials have said India’s main reason for buying Russian crude is commercial.

After China, India has done more than any country to compensate for the drop in demand for Russian oil from elsewhere, undermining Western efforts to isolate Moscow and hasten an end to the war in Ukraine. The officials say New Delhi wants to avoid repeating what it sees as the mistakes of the past: abiding by sanctions on Iran and winding down oil imports, only to see its main regional rival China continue unpunished and benefit economically.

“India has the attitude that if China is buying, why wouldn’t we?” said Robin Mills, chief executive of energy consultancy Qamar Energy.

“India doesn’t want to be in the same position again when China continued to buy Iranian oil and India stopped it.”

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government values good relations with Washington and the West, Indian officials say domestic needs come first and argue that Russia has been a better friend than the United States in energy cooperation.