Report has arrived, India increased the supply of crude oil from Muslim countries; Imports from Russia decreased
PTI, New Delhi. India's crude oil import strategy is now entering a new phase of change. Import consignment data and analysts show that Middle East suppliers, led by Saudi Arabia, are regaining market share.
At the same time, the inflow of Russian oil still remains important, but it is decreasing due to geopolitics and international sanctions. India's total crude oil imports fell to an average of 48.5 lakh barrels per day (bpd) from February 1 to 18 due to reduced supplies from Russia.
What do oil import figures say?
This is eight percent less than January's 5.25 lakh bpd. This decline in oil flows from there has been seen after US sanctions on major Russian exporters and the EU's 18th sanctions package came into effect last month.
Ship movement monitoring data shows that Russian supplies to India fell from 12.8 lakh bpd in December 2025 to 12.2 lakh bpd in January and further declined by almost 10 per cent to 10.9 lakh bpd in early February.
"India's Russian crude oil imports are estimated to be around 10-12 lakh bpd in February, which is likely to decline to around 8-10 lakh bpd in March," said Sumit Ritolia, chief research analyst at global commodity data analytics company Kpler.
India had increased oil imports from Russia after 2022
In the year 2022, India started purchasing Russian oil on a large scale due to it being available at a huge discount after the Ukraine war, but now this arrival seems to be stagnating instead of increasing.
"However, we see this as a short-term stabilization and not a return to the high levels seen in mid-2025. We estimate that due to commercial and policy headwinds, Russia's share in India's total imports will gradually decline and stabilize at a lower level in 2026 compared to 2024-2025," he said.
According to current assessments, a practical understanding has been reached between the US and India that allows India to import Russian goods for its basic needs, but does not encourage them to increase further. As the quantity of Russian oil is decreasing, the West Asia Gulf countries are filling this shortage.
Increasing oil imports from Saudi Arabia
Ritolia said supplies from Saudi Arabia are expected to reach 1 million to 1.1 million bpd in February, the highest level since November 2019.
Since the beginning of the month, the flow of oil coming from Saudi Arabia has been recorded at about 14 lakh bpd. However, there is a possibility of some softening in it in the beginning of March. Based on current trends, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the top supplier to India in February, followed by Russia and Iraq.
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