India's West Asia oil imports hit pre-war levels; Russian crude falls

The world's third-biggest oil importer initially raised Russian crude imports to compensate for reduced Middle Eastern supplies at the onset of the war. India's crude imports from the Middle East jumped in September to about 2.8 million barrels per day, the highest since February, up from 32 per cent in August, the data showed. Gulf oil accounted for about 54 per cent of overall imports. In contrast, Russian oil imports fell about 14 per cent on month ‌to about 1.8 million bpd in September, with its share of India's oil purchases declining to 33.5 per cent from 46.6 per cent, the data showed.

Russian imports likely to stay subdued Russian oil purchases by Indian refiners are likely to remain subdued in the coming months as the landed cost of Russian oil is now comparable to that of some Middle Eastern grades, mainly Iraqi oil, said an Indian refining source. Premiums ​on Russian oil have narrowed to $1-$2 per barrel against Brent from over $10 in recent months ‌as Middle Eastern supplies hit markets, the source said.

Refiners would prefer to maximise purchases of discounted Middle Eastern crude because voyage times are shorter ​and some ‌producers have cut selling prices to offset soaring freight costs, the source added. "We will ‌buy from whoever offers us better prices," said this source. India's overall imports in September rose 20 per cent month-on-month to around 5.33 million bpd, the data showed. Russia remained ‌India's ​largest oil supplier, ​followed by the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, the data showed.

The South Asian nation's imports of Iraqi oil last month rose to about ‌830,000 bpd from ​171,000 bpd in August, the data showed. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel First Published: Oct 22 2026 | 12:16 PM IST