ByCharles Kennedy– Mar 12, 2025, 9:30 AM CDT
Indian imports of crude oil from Russia appear to be rebounding in March following lower purchases earlier this year in the immediate aftermath of the January U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade.
Traders have booked more non-sanctioned tankers to deliver crude to India, while the price of Russia’s flagship Urals grade has dropped to below the $60 per barrel price cap by the G7, allowing shipments involving Western companies, Reuters reports, citing ship-tracking data and trading sources.
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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the bans on Russian oil in the West, India has become a key buyer of Russian crude, alongside China. Russia, for its part, became the single biggest oil supplier to India, the world’s third-largest oil importer.
Indian refiners earlier this year scrambled for alternatives after the U.S. sanctions designated hundreds of tankers, as well as oil traders, in January.
The Biden Administration’s farewell sanctions on Russian oil have reduced the availability of non-sanctioned tankers to carry out the trades.
Daily rates for non-sanctioned tankers on the western Russia to India route have spiked to the highest in a year, incentivizing more shippers to offer such cargoes, according to Reuters’ sources.
This month, India is on track to import 1.54 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude, predominantly Urals, per data from analytics firm Kpler quoted by Reuters. In the previous three months, India’s imports of oil from Russia are estimated to have averaged about 1.1 million bpd-1.2 million bpd, according to Kpler.
In the wake of the U.S. sanctions, India scrambled to reshuffle and reconfigure oil traders, insurers, and vessel owners with which it works.
The world’s third-largest crude oil importer wants to continue receiving the cheaper Russian oil without risking violating the U.S. sanctions.
India will continue to buy Russian oil if it is sold below the $60 per barrel price cap and delivered on non-sanctioned tankers and without any involvement of sanctioned companies or individuals, Indian officials have said.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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