India’s imports of crude petroleum from the US in the first eight months of the current fiscal registered a year-on-year increase of more than 92% compared with the same period in 2024, with Russia remaining the biggest supplier of the product between April and Nov 2025.As per data from the ministry of commerce and industry, India imported 178.1 million tonnes of crude between April and Nov 2025, of which 60 million tonnes came from Russia and 13 million tonnes from the US. During the same period in 2024, India had imported 165 million tonnes of oil, which comprised 62.4 million tonnes from Russia and just 7.1 million tonnes from the US.While the US’s share in India’s oil imports increased from 4.3% during April-Nov 2024 to 7.6%, during the same period in the ongoing financial year, Russia’s contribution fell from 37.9% in the last fiscal year to 33.7% in the current one.Apart from Russia and the US, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Nigeria and Kuwait are the biggest exporters of crude oil to India. India imported 7.7 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia in Nov 2025 compared to 7.2 million tonnes in the same month last year, a month-on-month increase of 6.8%. During the same month, India’s imports of oil from the US increased from 1.1 million tonnes in 2024 to 2.8 million tonnes in 2025, registering a growth of 144%.With the US imposing sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil — two major sources of oil exports to India — in Nov, leading to a fall in their dispatches, the actual impact on imports of Russian oil will be known only when official data for Dec is released. The US had announced the sanctions on Oct 22 and set Nov 21 as the deadline for all dealings to be wound down. However, some little-known suppliers, intermediaries and traders are gradually gaining a foothold in the supply of Russian crude.
