VOI World/ Desk
Russia, one of the world’s largest crude oil producers and refiners, is increasingly turning to India for petrol after repeated Ukrainian strikes damaged its refining infrastructure and triggered fuel shortages at home.
India is estimated to have shipped more than 1 million barrels of petrol to Russia in June and July, marking what experts say is the first such fuel trade between the two countries. Ship-tracking data showed Indian gasoline exports to Russia rising from around 12,000 barrels per day in June to about 21,000 barrels per day in July. The trend is believed to have continued in August.
The shift is particularly striking because India has itself become one of Russia’s biggest buyers of crude oil. Large volumes of Russian crude continue to be shipped to Indian refineries, meaning some of the petrol now returning to Russia may have been produced in India from Russian oil.
Nayara Energy’s Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, which has significant Russian shareholding, has emerged as the main Indian supplier. One Indian gasoline cargo has already reached Russia, while additional shipments have been tracked or were expected to follow.
Russia has traditionally relied on its vast refining network to meet domestic fuel demand and export petroleum products. But sustained Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries and energy infrastructure have disrupted operations, forcing Moscow to seek supplies from Belarus, Kazakhstan and, increasingly, more distant markets such as India. Russia has also imposed fuel export restrictions as it attempts to stabilise domestic supplies.
The new trade flow underlines an unusual reversal in the India-Russia energy relationship. For years, Russia has supplied India with discounted crude, especially after Western sanctions reshaped Moscow’s oil trade following the Ukraine war. Now, damage caused by that same war is creating a situation in which Russian crude can travel to India, be refined there and potentially return to Russia as petrol.
