India Becomes Unlikely Supplier of Gasoline to Russia Amid Ukrainian Conflict
India has become an important supplier of gasoline to Russia, with Indian refiners supplying up to 1 million barrels of gasoline over the past two months. The development is ironic given that Russia is one of the world's largest crude exporters and had been expected to be self-sufficient in fuel production.
The reason for India's emergence as a major petrol supplier lies in Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian refineries, which have disrupted domestic fuel production and pushed Russian imports sharply higher. Repeated attacks on Russian refineries have contributed to the surge in imports, with some reports suggesting that domestic output has fallen by as much as 70%.
India shifted significantly towards Russia for crude supplies after 2022, with Russian oil becoming a major source of crude used to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel. Indian purchases of Russian crude have reached record levels, with over 2.6 million barrels per day imported in June and July compared to 1 million bpd in February.
It's possible that some of the fuel shipped from India to Russia was produced using Russian crude. The situation is further complicated by the fact that around 55% of the gasoline imported by Russia in August arrived on sanctioned vessels, with some transfers taking place through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in the Mediterranean.