India became the third largest buyer of Russian oil by importing Russian hydrocarbons worth 2.3 billion euros in December.Image Credit source: ChatGPT
Russian oil has played an important role in maintaining India’s economy from 2022 to 2025. By refining Russian oil, India has sold it to many countries and earned billions of dollars. In the last few months, India has also become the second largest importer of Russian oil. When the whole world refused to buy Russian oil, India came forward and not only adopted Russian oil but also turned the disaster into an opportunity.
Now a rapid change in circumstances has been seen. America has imposed an additional tariff of 25 percent on India’s purchase of Russian oil. Also, America is about to pass a bill regarding Russia through which Trump can impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries like India, China and Brazil. Due to which India has reduced the supply of Russian oil.
The special thing is that due to this shortage in supply, India has fallen behind Turkey to third place in the matter of import of Russian oil. Whereas China still remains at the first position. Experts say that now India has once again returned to its old suppliers Middle East instead of Russia. Along with this, the purchase of American oil has also increased. Due to which there has been a decrease in Russian oil supply. Let us also tell you what kind of report has been presented on this by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Europe’s report on Russian oil
European think tank Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said on Tuesday that India slipped to third place among buyers of Russian crude in December 2025 after a sharp reduction in crude oil imports by Reliance Industries and state-owned refineries. According to CREA, India’s total Russian hydrocarbon imports in December stood at 2.3 billion euros, which is less than 3.3 billion euros in November. CREA said that with the purchase of Russian hydrocarbons worth 2.6 billion euros in December, Türkiye became the second largest importer, surpassing India. Among the top five importers, China accounted for 48 percent (6 billion euros) of Russia’s export revenue, which remains the top buyer.
India lags behind Turkey
CREA further said that India was the third largest buyer of Russian oil by importing Russian hydrocarbons worth 2.3 billion euros in December. Crude oil accounted for 78 percent of India’s total purchases, worth 1.8 billion euros, while coal (424 million euros) and oil products (82 million euros) made up the remainder. In November, India spent 2.6 billion euros on Russian crude oil, which is processed in domestic refineries to make fuels such as petrol and diesel. CREA said that there has been a huge decline of 29 percent month-on-month in India’s imports of Russian crude oil, which is the lowest since the implementation of the price cap policy. This decline has occurred despite a slight increase in total imports.
How did Russian oil imports decrease?
This decline was mainly due to Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery, which halved its imports from Russia in December. CREA said all of their imports were made by Rosneft, although the goods were purchased before US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions were imposed. State-owned refineries also reduced Russian purchases by 15 percent in December. The US has imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil. Due to the sanctions, companies like Reliance, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited have temporarily stopped or reduced imports, although Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is still continuing to buy oil from non-sanctioned Russian entities.
How did India become a big importer of Russian oil?
India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, became a major buyer of subsidized Russian crude as Western countries reduced purchases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. India, traditionally dependent on Middle East oil, saw a sharp increase in Russian imports due to oil being available at deep discounts due to sanctions and reduced European demand, increasing its share in total crude oil imports from 1 percent to almost 40 percent. In December, Russia supplied about 25 percent of India’s crude oil imports, down from 35 percent the previous month.
How much Russian oil sent to Europe and Australia
CREA also highlighted export flows from refineries processing Russian crude, saying that in December, five refineries in India, Turkey and Brunei that use Russian crude exported 943 million euros worth of oil products to embargo countries. Importers included the European Union (436 million euros), the US (189 million euros), the UK (34 million euros) and Australia (283 million euros). These products, worth an estimated 274 million euros, were refined from Russian crude oil.
How much Russian oil was exported to America?
Exports to embargo countries recorded a 9 per cent month-on-month decline, with the EU and UK contributing the most, with monthly declines of 26 per cent and 53 per cent respectively. In contrast, exports to Australia (284 million euros) increased by 9 percent, with the largest contributions from India’s Jamnagar Refinery (132 million euros) and Brunei’s Hengyi Refinery (116 million euros). Exports to the US from Jamnagar and Tupras Aliaga refineries increased by 121 percent to 189 million euros.
China was the biggest importer
On the other hand, China remained the largest buyer of Russian oil, accounting for 48 percent (6 billion euros) of the total revenue of the top five importers. Crude oil accounted for 60 percent (3.6 billion euros) of purchases, followed by coal and pipeline gas. Crude oil imports by sea route increased 23 percent month-on-month, mainly due to higher arrivals of ESPO-grade crude oil, while imports of Urals-grade crude oil increased 15 percent, reaching the highest level in the fourth quarter since the second quarter of 2023.