As pressure from the US and EU sanctions mounts, India has started cutting down its Russian crude oil imports, which declined by 12 per cent on an annual basis in January 2026.
According to Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the decline in barrels from Moscow was led by Reliance Industries’ (RIL) Jamnagar refinery. Till November 2025, India’s largest private sector refiner was among the top buyers of Russian crude oil, including Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) and Nayara Energy.
India’s Russian crude imports recorded a 12 per cent reduction in January despite a 4 per cent Y-o-Y rise in total imports. This drop in Russian crude volumes was led by a complete pause in imports by the Jamnagar refinery, the think tank pointed out.
India—the second largest importer after China—purchased €2.2 billion of Russian hydrocarbons last month. Crude oil constituted the largest share at 78 per cent (€2 billion), followed by coal (€442 million). Oil products (€30 million) constituted the remainder of imports, it added.
“Biggest drop has been in imports to the Jamnagar refinery. In January, the refinery did not receive any seaborne Russian oil at all. The reasons for this cut-off may have to do with (US) OFAC sanctions on Rosneft, which was the chief supplier to the refinery. As of publication (February 18, 2026), there are three shipments from Russia reported as destined for Jamnagar,” CREA said.
RIL in a January 6, 2026 statement said “RIL’s Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approx. and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January.”
While President Trump announced a new bilateral trade deal and heralded India’s decision to stop buying Russian crude, there has been no such clear declaration by Indian government officials, CREA said.
“Indian officials have chosen not to react to President (Donald) Trump’s statement, or even corroborate it, choosing instead to highlight their own statements on the details of the trade deal,” it added.
In a February 2026 commentary, Moody’s Analytics said that India has agreed to phase out its imports of Russian crude oil and replace them with US and Venezuelan crude, according to US officials. Indian officials have not confirmed that statement, but major refineries have reduced purchases of Russian crude in recent months.
CREA pointed out that the European Union’s (EU’s) ban on imports of oil products made from Russian crude oil came into effect on January 21, 2026. The EU’s ban, in combination with the US OFAC sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, saw Indian refineries that export to the EU completely cut off their Russian feedstock.
“Five refineries in India, Turkiye, and Brunei that use Russian crude exported €781 million of oil products to sanctioning countries in January 2026. There was an 11 per cent month-on-month reduction in these refineries’ exports to sanctioning countries.
“The USA’s imports totalled €118 million and originated mainly in the Jamnagar refinery and the Tupras-owned refineries in Turkiye—both of which continue to use Russian crude,” the think tank added.
In January, the average price of Russia’s Urals crude rose by 4 per cent to $54.2 per barrel, remaining above the new EU and UK price cap of $44.1 per barrel, which took effect on February 1, 2026. The discount increased by 5 per cent month-on-month, averaging $9.85 per barrel below Brent.
Published on February 24, 2026