According to sources cited in Bloomberg's Monday publication, India's two largest state-owned refineries – Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum — purchased Russian crude oil for January delivery. They did not make the purchase directly in Russia, but through intermediaries not covered by sanctions and after obtaining a discount of USD 5. per barrel. And back in October, the Kremlin offered a discount of $3.
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Which Indian refineries have resumed purchases of Russian oil?
How much is the discount on Russian oil for India?
Why is India limiting purchases of Russian oil?
What sanctions have been imposed on Russian oil producers?
After taking into account the discount and transportation costs, Russia will probably earn around $40-45 per barrel. This means further declines in the Kremlin's income from oil sales. In the past year, they have already reached USD 25 billion.
India's purchases in Russia are becoming more and more modest
India remains cautious and, according to the Indian business daily Economic Times, total purchases of Russian oil will probably not exceed 600,000. barrels per day, and this is less than one third of orders from 2024. This is primarily due to pressure from the United States, which discourages India from purchasing sanctioned Russian oil. Washington in October imposed sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil PJSC, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, Russia's four largest oil producers.
Some Indian refiners, such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd., continue to avoid Russian crude altogether, and private oil giant Reliance Industries announced in late November that it would stop processing Russian crude at part of its massive refinery in Jamnagar.
Unprocessed oil from the Urals has been the main raw material for Indian refineries since 2023, when almost all European Union countries cut themselves off from these supplies, forcing Russia to look for new customers in Asia.
