Kolkata: Following the threats by US president Donald Trump, Indian refiners have decided to cut crude oil purchase from Russia and shift focus to West Asian suppliers, reports have said. This data could be placed before Washington to facilitate a bilateral trade deal between the US and India. Reuters has reported that the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell is collecting weekly data on purchase of crude from Russia and the US.
Last year, Trump personally ordered and ensured implementation of 50% punitive tariffs on Indian imports and 25% (or half) of which was solely due to Indian refiners buying Russian crude, which Trump construed as a means of part funding Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.
Earlier reports had said that India turned into one of the top buyers of Russian crude after the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine. The Russians offered deep discounts to Indians who bought the crude, which worked to the advantage of New Delhi. India is one of the biggest importers of crude. An energy hungry nation, India imports more than 85% of its crude and any supplier at a discount helped India cut its current account deficit since crude oil is the biggest item in India’s import bill. But Trump quickly turned his focus on New Delhi prevailing upon it to reduce purchase from Russia.
Reports now indicate that the shift away from Russia comes as West Asian producers are keeping global markets well-supplied. For example, PSU refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation signed one-year tenders to buy Iraqi Basrah and Omani crude with trader Trafigura. It is buying Murban oil from the UAE under another tender.
From April 2026, Trafigura will supply four cargoes of Oman crude every quarter. The price: 75 cents a barrel lower than Dubai quotes and one parcel of Basrah Medium at a discount of 40 cents a barrel to official selling price of that grade of crude, indicated reports.
Reportedly, another PSU oil marketer Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and private refiners HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd have already stopped buying Russian oil. As a result, India’s purchase of Russian oil fell to their lowest level in two years in December 2025. In the same time, the share of import from OPEC also touched a 11-month high.
The US is trying to lower its trade deficit with India. Indian refiners are also buying more oil from Africa and South America. Indian refiners are also buying ,more crude from the US to partly replace Russian oil and narrow the trade deficit with Washington.