How India emerged as major petrol supplier to Russia amid Ukraine drone attacks
Russia’s seaborne gasoline imports surged to a record around 125,000 barrels per day in August
India has emerged as a significant gasoline supplier to Russia, with Russian seaborne gasoline imports hitting a record high in August. This development is attributed to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, which have disrupted domestic fuel production and forced Moscow to rely more heavily on imports. India, processing a substantial amount of imported Russian crude, is now exporting refined products like gasoline to Russia, with a notable contribution from the Vadinar refinery, co-owned by Russia's Rosneft. This trend underscores the evolving global energy trade landscape and India's growing importance in it.
India has emerged as a significant gasoline supplier to Russia, with Russian seaborne gasoline imports hitting a record high in August. This development is attributed to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, which have disrupted domestic fuel production and forced Moscow to rely more heavily on imports. India, processing a substantial amount of imported Russian crude, is now exporting refined products like gasoline to Russia, with a notable contribution from the Vadinar refinery, co-owned by Russia's Rosneft. This trend underscores the evolving global energy trade landscape and India's growing importance in it.
India has emerged as a significant gasoline supplier to Russia, with Russian seaborne gasoline imports hitting a record high in August. This development is attributed to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, which have disrupted domestic fuel production and forced Moscow to rely more heavily on imports. India, processing a substantial amount of imported Russian crude, is now exporting refined products like gasoline to Russia, with a notable contribution from the Vadinar refinery, co-owned by Russia's Rosneft. This trend underscores the evolving global energy trade landscape and India's growing importance in it.
India has emerged as a major supplier of gasoline to Russia as Moscow ramps up fuel imports following repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and energy infrastructure, which have disrupted domestic fuel production.
Ship-tracking data shows that Russia’s seaborne gasoline imports surged to a record around 125,000 barrels per day (kbd) in August. Indian refiners supplied as much as 1 million barrels of gasoline to Russia over the past two months, according to trade data.
Quoting trade sources, PTI reported that a large share of the Indian supplies came from the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, operated by Nayara Energy, which is 50% owned by Russia’s Rosneft.
India has significantly increased its imports of Russian crude since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered sweeping Western sanctions on Russian energy exports.
India imported more than 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in June and July, up from around 1 million bpd in February, with Russian crude accounting for more than half of India’s total crude imports during the period, according to trade data.
India then processes the imported crude at its large refining network to produce petroleum products such as petrol and diesel, some of which are exported to international markets. India is the world’s fourth-largest refining country, with an installed refining capacity of around 258 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) in 2024-25.
According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), crude oil accounts for around 85 per cent of India’s petroleum imports by value.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure have reportedly sharply reduced domestic fuel production, forcing Moscow to rely more heavily on imports. India, Turkey, and Morocco were the major gasoline suppliers to Russia in August.
Energy trade tracker Vortexa said all India-origin gasoline cargoes Russia imported in August were carried on sanctioned fleets and involved dark ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Mediterranean.
Overall, around 40 per cent of Russia's August gasoline imports moved via ship-to-ship transfers, with the majority conducted in the dark, with vessels switching off their automatic identification system (AIS) signals, it said.