India's Largest Refinery Starts Buying American Oil – Bloomberg
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State-owned Indian Oil, India's largest oil company, which operates 10 of the country's 20 refineries, has bought at least 5 million barrels of US oil. This is with reference to traders reported Bloomberg.

This week, Indian Oil held several crude oil tenders in a row, which traders said was unusual for the company and indicated strong demand for oil. The purchases were large and expected to be delivered relatively quickly.

Earlier, it purchased 4 million barrels of West African oil, as well as 2 million barrels of Murban from the UAE.

"We see the increase in purchasing activity from India as a sign of diversification of supplies aimed at reducing dependence on Russian ones," said Livia Gallarati, head of global crude oil supplies at Energy Aspects, a consulting company.

Earlier this week, India's government instructed state refiners to submit plans to purchase non-Russian oil.

Indian refineries have been in the spotlight over the past two weeks after the European Union and the United States criticized them for buying Russian oil.

President of the United States Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to introduce 100% duty for oil buyers from Russia. This week, he announced that India will pay additional fines for continuing to buy Russian oil "when everyone wants Russia to stop killing in Ukraine."

"Individual players are unlikely to take risks by buying Russian barrels, especially at the current high prices, even if skepticism remains about whether US President Donald Trump will follow through on these threats," Gallarati said.

  • India is the world's third largest oil consumer and importer. It almost never bought Russian oil until 2022, but after the start of full-scale Russian aggression, it became hooked on it, becoming the second largest importer after China.
  • In September 2024, India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that as long as Russian oil is not under sanctions, India will buy it due to its low price.
  • In July 2025, he also assured that India can live without Russian oilif the US imposes secondary sanctions on countries that buy it.
  • According to Reuters, by the end of July, India's state-owned refineries suspended purchases of Russian oil because of Trump's statements.