Russian Oil Supplies To India Fall To Lowest Level In Three Years

• 30.12.2025, 13:24

Because of increased U.S. sanctions enforcement.

Russian oil supplies to India in December may reach their lowest level in three years, but volumes are likely to rise early next year after the largest refinery resumes purchases.

This is reported by Bloomberg .

The analyst firm said supplies in December are expected to be around 1.1 million barrels per day, the lowest since November 2022. That's still above the forecast by Indian officials earlier this month after the latest U.S. restrictions on Russian energy.

Bloomberg recalls that India's demand for Russian crude has fallen in recent months due to increased U.S. scrutiny of the trade.

Supplies fell in July and then partially recovered when some refiners, notably Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp, returned to buying at reduced prices.

India's largest importer Reliance suspended purchases after U.S. sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil in late October, but has now resumed buying from suppliers not on the sanctions list.

Russian crude is used at Reliance's Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat for the domestic market. Supplies slowed to 712,000 barrels per day in the second week of December before rising. Indian officials had forecast 800,000 barrels a day.

"The decline in December imports came after a pause by Reliance and also due to lower flows to the Mundra terminal of HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. which did not buy a single barrel this month for the first time since September 2022," the report said.