India is the third largest crude oil buyer and consumer country in the world. Our economy and daily traffic is completely dependent on the smooth import of oil. For some time, Russian oil was being refined the most in the country’s refineries, but now the trend has completely changed. After the US trade agreement, the Indian government has made a major change in its oil purchase strategy. According to the report of Economics Times, now queues of oil tankers from OPEC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, instead of Russia have started forming at Indian ports. Experts say that if oil is available from OPEC countries at the right price, then there may be a slight decline in the prices of diesel and petrol in India.
Why is the purchase of oil from Russia decreasing?
When war broke out between Russia and Ukraine in the year 2022, Western countries imposed many types of economic sanctions on Moscow. At that time, keeping in mind the energy needs of the general public, India had purchased cheap Russian oil extensively. There was a time when Russia’s share in India’s total oil imports was only one percent, which after the war jumped to about 40 percent and Russia became our biggest supplier. However, now the situation has changed. Due to the sanctions of Western countries and the pressure of the new trade agreement with America, Indian oil companies have started moving away from Russia. India’s oil import from Russia has reduced to about 1.1 million barrels per day in January 2026. This is the lowest level since November 2022. Russia’s share in total imports has also shrunk to 21.2 percent and is one-third less than the same period last year.
Saudi Arabia returns to number one again
Amidst the decreasing demand for Russian crude oil, the countries of the Middle East have once again gained a strong hold on the Indian market. Saudi Arabia has again worn the crown of India’s largest oil supplier. Imports from Saudi Arabia have reached their record level in the month of February. If we look at the figures, at the beginning of December, imports from Russia were at a 10-month low of $2.7 billion, which was 15% less than in December 2024. On the contrary, during the same period, a huge jump of 60 percent was seen in the purchase of oil from Saudi Arabia and it reached 1.8 billion dollars. An increase of 31 percent has also been recorded in oil purchases from America. In this entire exercise, the dominance of OPEC countries in the Indian crude oil market has reached the highest level in the last 11 months.
Who is now the biggest customer of Russian oil?
As India has distanced itself from Russian oil, China has taken full advantage of this situation. Since November, China has overtaken India in purchasing Russian crude oil via sea route and has become the largest buyer of it in the world. According to preliminary data from Vortexa Analytics, about 2.07 million barrels of oil is expected to be sent daily from Russia to China in February. This is much higher than January’s estimate of 1.7 million barrels per day.
Now oil will not be taken from Russia at all?
Market experts and analysts believe that there will be a further decline in oil imports from Russia. It is estimated that in February this figure will be on average 1 to 1.2 million barrels per day. At the same time, it is expected to reduce further to about 8,00,000 barrels per day in the month of March. However, looking at the current business conditions, it is clear that the oil supply from Russia will not stop completely overnight, but it will gradually reduce in a gradual process.