Oil infra hit by Ukraine, Russia gets 70% of its fuel from India

As Ukrainian forces launched attacks on Russian refineries, the situation in the country's energy sector deteriorated rapidly. In August, Russian refineries experienced significant damage, leading to a sharp decline in domestic fuel supplies. This prompted Moscow to import a record 172,000 tonnes of oil products, with a staggering 70% of the fuel arriving from India, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

In this report, India is the second-largest importer of crude oil from Russia, trailing behind China, though its imports have decreased compared to the previous two months.

India exported 120,000 tonnes of gasoline (petrol) worth 78 million euros to Russia, refined in a refinery in India partly owned by Rosneft, a Russian oil company. The shipment was transported to Vadinar refinery in Gujarat and sold to Rosneft by Nayara Energy, an EU-sanctioned company. Rosneft, which holds a 49.1% stake in Nayara Energy, processed Russian crude into fuel for Russian consumption and then shipped it back to Russia via a ship-to-ship operation off Egypt. This complex process allowed Russia to procure fuel it could no longer produce domestically.

Russian gasoline imports have seen a surge in recent times, with gasoline imports accounting for 74% of total oil-product imports in August, up from an average of 6% between 2023 and 2025. Moreover, Russia has increased its reliance on India for refined petroleum products, as these imports comprised 87% of India's hydrocarbon imports from Russia in August.

Apart from India, South Korea and Egypt also exported to Russia. In terms of hydrocarbons, India imported 4.8 billion euros of Russian crude oil in August, with crude oil accounting for 4.1 billion euros or 87% of the total imports. However, Indian imports of Russian crude fell by 24% from July after reaching record levels in the previous two months.