No Pause On Russian Oil Imports, India Continues Imports Based On Economic Rationale

India has not halted oil purchases from Russia in response to the US President's tariff threat and continues to buy based solely on economic considerations, said AS Sahney, Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest oil firm.

- Press Trust Of India

Purchase volumes may fluctuate monthly based on the discounts offered on Russian crude grades like Urals. While discounts had previously reached as high as USD 40 per barrel, they have narrowed to just USD 1.5 late last month, resulting in reduced offtake. Discounts have since widened to about USD 2.70.

However, India’s intent to continue buying Russian oil remains unchanged.

India became the largest customer of Russian oil from 2022, after western countries shunned Russian oil and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Sahney said refiners like IOC buy crude oil from Russia purely on economic consideration and have not been asked to cut or boost purchase in response to US tariffs, he said.

"There is no pause," he said. Russian oil has continued to flow to Indian refiners in July as well as this month.