India’s Refiners Demand Clarity on Russian Oil After Trump Post

An oil refinery operated by Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 4, 2025. Indian refiners have rushed back to the market to seek crude supply after President Donald Trump's threat of more penalties against Russia raised concerns over potential disruptions to oil flows. Photo by Dhiraj Singh /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — India’s oil refiners, a vital source of demand for Russian crude, are seeking clarification from the government in New Delhi as to whether their purchases will be affected by Donald Trump’s latest social media post.

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On Wednesday, the US President said that he would impose a tariff rate of 25% on India’s exports to the US starting on Aug. 1 and warned of an extra penalty because of the country’s continued energy purchases from Russia.

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“Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE,” Trump said. “INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST.”

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India emerged as the world’s single biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude i European Union countries following the invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. Three people familiar with the purchases of more than 1 million barrels a day of Russian crude by Indian firms said they’ve sought clarity on what Trump’s posts mean for their buying.

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READ: Trump Hits India With 25% Tariff, Threatens More Over Russia

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India bought about 1.63 million barrels a day of Russian crude last year, a figure that’s held up largely unchanged so far in 2025, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s more cargo than any other nation and represents roughly half of Moscow’s crude shipments.

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The EU has also amped up the pressure by stating that it will ban the imports of diesel made from Russian crude at refineries anywhere in the world, something that India has bristled at.

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India’s refiners are waiting for a response from oil ministry about flows that are due to arrive in India after the Aug. 1 cutoff, the people said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. 

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India’s oil ministry declined comment. The processors believe that they can easily find alternative supply if they’re told to stop dealing with Russia, but their import costs would spike in such a scenario, the people said. 

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Any cut in Russian barrels would hit state-owned refiners’ profits, Prashant Vasisht, senior vice president at ratings agency ICRA said. A $10 per barrel increase in crude oil prices — sustained over a period of a year — would raise their oil import bill by about $13 billion to14 billion, he added. 

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—With assistance from Julian Lee.

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