Indian refiners are poised to halve imports of Russian crude oil following the U.S.-India trade deal, sources with direct knowledge of the oil procurement deals told Bloomberg on Monday.
All state-controlled refiners in India have suspended purchases of Russian crude on the spot market since the announcement of the deal, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
State-held Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), as well as the top private refiner Reliance Industries, have not made any fresh spot orders for Russian crude in the past week, the sources added.
These refiners will take delivery of the cargoes they have already purchased but the future purchases are highly uncertain, analysts say.
“India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, has represented that it will purchase United States energy products from the United States, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation over the next 10 years,” the White House said on Friday.
The 25% tariff on India that President Donald Trump placed in August 2025, due to India’s purchases of Russian crude, is now removed.
India, however, has not confirmed it would halt all purchases of Russian crude oil.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week that “ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the government. Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s decisions are taken and will be taken with this in mind.”
Despite India’s vague response to the U.S. claim that New Delhi has committed to stop purchases of Russian oil, the trade deal could be incentive enough for Indian buyers to slash imports from Russia, analysts say.
“The overall economic benefit of a trade deal with the US will outweigh the advantage of discounted crude imports,” Vandana Hari, founder consultancy Vanda Insights, told Bloomberg.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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