Indian refineries suspend imports of Russian oil: await government's instructions – Reuters

Indian oil refineries have stopped new purchases of Russian oil after the introduction of new US sanctions against Russia, awaiting clarification from the government and suppliers on how to proceed. About writes Reuters, citing informed industry sources.

According to the agency, the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation has announced a tender for the purchase of oil, and the Reliance Industries conglomerate has increased purchases on the spot market in an attempt to compensate for the lack of supplies from Russia.

Indian companies are awaiting clarification from the government and suppliers on how to proceed in order not to violate sanctions restrictions. Some orders for Russian oil have already been canceled.

"We have not yet placed orders for new cargoes and have canceled some orders that were booked with traders associated with sanctioned entities," said one of the sources.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Indian refiners are preparing to drastically cut Russian oil imports to avoid sanctions risks.

According to the International Energy Agency, in the first nine months of 2025, India purchased about 1.9 million barrels of Russian oil per day, which is about 40% of all Russian exports.

However, from April to September, imports declined by 8.4% due to lower discounts and limited supply.

• On October 21, it was reported that the Indian energy giant Reliance Industries began to actively buy oil from the Middle East this may indicate the influence of Western pressure on the country's imports of Russian energy.
• On October 23, Bloomberg wrote that Russian oil supplies to India will be reduced to almost zero in the near future after the US sanctions.