According to Commerce and Industry Ministry data, India imported $2.7 billion of crude oil from Russia in December 2025, the lowest in any month since February 2024. This is about 27% less than the $3.7 billion imports in November 2025 and a decline of more than 15% compared to the $3.2 billion in December 2024.
America imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies
This decline has come at a time when the US announced sanctions on Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil on October 22. America had set a deadline of November 21 to end all transactions related to these companies. Both these companies have been major suppliers of Russian oil exports to India.
According to sources, oil marketing companies and private refiners were contacted on this issue. Reliance Industries and some petroleum sector companies responded, while no response was received from Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.
Despite decline, Russia remains India’s largest crude oil supplier
Despite this, Russia remains India’s largest crude oil supplier in 2025-26. Russia’s share in India’s total oil imports of $11.4 billion in December 2025 was 24%. Other major suppliers included Iraq ($2.4 billion), Saudi Arabia ($1.8 billion), UAE ($1.7 billion) and the US ($0.6 billion).
In the first nine months (April-December) of the financial year 2025-26, India imported a total of $ 105.1 billion of crude oil from 34 countries. Russia remained the largest supplier during this period with $33.1 billion, a share of 31.5%. In comparison, Russia’s share in total imports of $109.3 billion in the same period last financial year was $39.9 billion or 36.5%.
Crude oil imports from America increased
During this period, imports from America have increased. Crude oil worth $0.6 billion came from America in December 2025, which was $0.4 billion a year ago. The US exported oil worth $8.2 billion to India between April and December 2025, which is 7.8% more than $5 billion in the same period last fiscal year.
While announcing the India-US trade agreement last week, US President Trump had said that India has agreed to reduce Russian oil imports to zero. However, the Narendra Modi government did not directly react to the claim and said that ensuring energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is its top priority.
