India’s crude oil imports rose 1.7 per cent in September to 19.93 million metric tons month-on-month, government data showed on Monday.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, making this data a key indicator of its oil demand. On a yearly basis, crude oil imports rose 6.1 per cent, from 18.79 million tons in September 2024, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell shows. Imports of crude oil products rose about 20.9 per cent on a yearly basis to 4.40 million tons in September, while product exports fell 4.8 per cent to 6.18 million tons.
The European Union, the UK and the US have imposed a raft of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including fresh US sanctions on Thursday targeting Russia’s two top oil producers Lukoil and Rosneft. The US has given companies until November 21 to wind down their transactions with the Russian oil producers. Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with new US sanctions on two top Russian producers, industry sources said on Thursday, potentially removing a major hurdle to a trade deal with the US.
India’s Russian oil imports between April and September fell 8.4 per cent on year due to narrower discounts and tighter supplies, with refiners seeking more oil from the Middle East and the US, according to trade sources and shipping data. Two Indian refiners have bought 4 million barrels of Guyanese crude oil from US major Exxon Mobil to be delivered at the end of 2025 or in early 2026, in rare imports from the South American producer, trade sources said on October 17.
NOTE: The data for imports and exports is preliminary because private refiners share numbers at their discretion.