Russian oil imports to India hit a record in June, preliminary data show

Russian oil imports to India rose to a record level in June. Reuters reported this today, citing data tracking tanker movements across the world's seas. Indian refineries bought large quantities of Russian oil to mitigate the impact of problems in the Strait of Hormuz on supplies from other sources.

According to preliminary data from Kpler and LSEG, Indian refineries imported approximately 2.70 million barrels of Russian oil per day in June. In May, Russian oil imports to India stood at 2.13 million barrels per day, according to Kpler, while LSEG estimated imports at 1.95 million barrels per day.

Russian oil has been India's main source of oil imports since 2022. At that time, Indian refineries began turning to discounted supplies. Some European buyers had stopped purchasing Russian oil in response to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. Western countries then began rejecting Russian oil and restricting purchases through various sanctions. Moscow therefore began offering the crude at a discount, a move that Indian refineries and others took advantage of.

According to Kpler, total oil imports to India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, were almost unchanged in June at 4.9 million barrels per day. Russia was the biggest supplier. Russian oil accounted for more than half of total oil imports, compared with 36.5 percent in May.

India significantly increased imports of Russian oil to make up for the shortfall in supplies from the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz is a key shipping route in the region and was practically blocked following US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. The situation began to improve only in recent days, but it is still not back to normal. Before the conflict escalated, around a fifth of global oil supplies passed through the strait.