By contrast, Russian crude deliveries into China surged to an all-time high last month
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ABEER KHAN
India’s imports of crude oil from Russia stood at 1.1 million barrels per day (mb/d) in January 2026, marking the lowest in more than three years, as US sanctions forced domestic refiners to scale back purchases from Moscow.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest oil market report pointed out that Russian supply declined last month, by a sizeable 350,000 b/d, as key buyers faced increased pressure from Washington and broader EU sanctions.
“Shipments to India have been hit particularly hard as fresh EU restrictions on imports of petroleum products derived from Russian crude prompted key export refineries to look for alternative supplies. Tanker tracking data shows Indian imports of Russian crude declined to 1.1 mb/d in January, — the lowest level since November 2022 — down from 1.7 mb/d on average in 2025,” it added.
By contrast, Russian crude deliveries into China surged to an all-time high last month, it added.
OPEC, in its February 2026 monthly oil market report, said Washington announced an immediate reduction in “reciprocal” tariffs on Indian goods imports to 18 per cent from 25 per cent, alongside reports indicating that the additional 25 per cent duty related to India’s Russian oil purchases would be eliminated following India’s agreement to scale back such imports.
At the same time, India committed to further increasing crude oil imports from the US, alongside announced commitments to expand other US purchases further, it added.
Analysts and trade sources said that pressure from Washington on India to stop Russian imports, coupled with the European Union’s (EU) 18th sanctions package, which prohibits the supply of refined petroleum products derived from crude oil from Moscow, has resulted in lower imports by Indian refiners.
However, there is no dearth of supply currently, said one of the analysts, adding that domestic refiners can manage from the Middle East for medium sour crude, besides leveraging the US and West Africa for light sweet grades.
“With supply continuing to outpace demand, observed oil inventories rose by a further 37 million barrels (mb) in December, taking global stock builds in 2025 to an extraordinary 477 mb, or 1.3 mb/d on average, a level not seen since 2020,” IEA said.
Published on February 13, 2026
