India’s State-Owned Refiners Continue Buying Russian Oil as New Delhi Seeks U.S. Tariff Relief

India’s state-owned oil refiners are continuing to purchase Russian crude for future deliveries, even as New Delhi presses Washington for relief from U.S. tariffs imposed over those imports, according to energy analysts and shipping data.

The United States imposed a secondary 25% tariff on Indian goods in August, citing India’s ongoing purchases of Russian oil. Washington also expanded sanctions in late November to include major Russian oil producers Lukoil and Rosneft.

Despite these measures, analysts say India’s public sector refiners have continued sourcing Russian crude, offsetting a pullback by private refiners and reshaping, rather than reducing, overall demand.

On Sunday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said India’s ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, had urged him to appeal to President Donald Trump to reconsider the tariffs. According to Graham, New Delhi has argued that it has already scaled back its purchases of Russian oil.

Market data, however, suggest that while India’s overall imports of Russian crude declined in December, the drop was largely driven by reduced buying from private refiners, particularly Reliance Industries, which had been one of Russia’s largest Asian customers before U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft took effect.

State-owned refiners, commonly referred to as public sector undertakings (PSUs), have absorbed part of that reduction, analysts said.

“Indian state-owned refiners have continued to buy Russian crude for future delivery through non-sanctioned suppliers,” said Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at tanker-tracking firm Kpler.

Companies including Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation did not respond to requests for comment. BPCL declined to comment, while India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas also did not respond.

Analysts said the continued intake of Russian crude by state-run refiners reflects domestic fuel demand and favorable pricing rather than a defiance of geopolitical pressure.

“Despite declining aggregate imports, PSU refinery intake of Russian crude has remained resilient, highlighting a redistribution rather than a collapse in demand,” said Pankaj Srivastava, senior vice president of commodity markets at Rystad Energy.

Rystad estimates that India’s Russian crude imports fell by around 300,000 barrels per day since November, to about 1.7 million barrels per day, but forecasts a modest recovery to 1.8 million barrels per day in January.

Kpler’s shipping data point to a sharper short-term decline. India’s imports of Russian crude dropped by 595,000 barrels per day month-on-month in December, falling to 1.24 million barrels per day, the lowest level since December 2022.

India has faced sustained pressure from the United States to curb Russian oil imports, which Western officials say provide Moscow with a vital economic buffer amid sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine.

India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri has previously defended the country’s approach, stating that India will secure oil from any source as long as pricing and supply terms remain favorable.

On Sunday, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump warned that the United States could raise tariffs further if India fails to curb its purchases of Russian crude.