import of crude oil
US President Donald Trump has instructed India not to buy Russian oil. He keeps mentioning this again and again in his speeches. But recent figures show that American pressure has had no impact on India. The country continues to buy crude oil from Russia. According to Helsinki’s Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Indian refineries purchased Russian crude oil worth Rs 25,597 crore in September, which is the highest after China. During this period, China bought oil worth Rs 3.2 billion.
India also remains the second largest buyer of Russian coal and refined fuel. Total fossil import is Rs 3.6 billion, which is behind China’s Rs 5.5 billion. Overall, China is number one among Russian fossil fuel buyers, followed by India, Türkiye, EU and South Korea. China also imports a lot of Russian crude oil, LNG and coal, while Türkiye is on top in refined oil products and pipeline gas. The Trump Administration is putting pressure on New Delhi to stop Russian oil imports. The logic behind this is that they fund Moscow’s Ukraine war. Washington imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian exports as a penalty on Russian oil purchases, but did nothing on other buyers.
Coal was also imported
India’s crude oil imports from Russia fell sequentially by 9% in September. It is at the lowest level since February. Because the procurement of government refineries was down by 38% which is the lowest after May 2022. Apart from crude, India bought coal worth ₹452 million and refined oil products worth ₹344 million, while China imported ₹784 million coal, ₹658 million pipeline gas and ₹487 million LNG. Oil products imports down 27% sequentially, mainly due to Ukraine attacks disrupting Russian diesel production. The EU imported Rs 743 million of LNG and pipeline gas, plus Rs 311 million of crude from Russia. South Korea is at fifth position with a total of Rs 283 million.