Indian refiners can do without Russian oil, but with trade-offs

INDIAN REFINERS, THE world's biggest user of Russian oil, can operate without supplies from Moscow from a technical standpoint, but the shift would involve major economic and strategic trade-offs, analysts said.

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Russian crude supports high distillate yields - the share of crude converted into fuels like petrol, diesel, and jet fuel through distillation.

Replacing Russian crude, which accounts for up to 38% of India's refinery intake, with alternatives will shift yields, resulting in lower middle distillates (diesel and jet fuel) and higher residue outputs, according to global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler.

US President Donald Trump last week announced an additional 25% tariff on US imports from India -- raising the overall duty to 50% -- as a penalty for the country's continued imports of Russian oil.