Oil Imports

Reducing oil import dependence requires India to also curb its demand for oil

India wants to continue importing energy from its traditional West Asia oil producers because supplies from alternate sources would take a longer time to reach the country

India's edible oil imports rose 3 per cent to 166.51 lakh tonnes in the 2025-26 fiscal year, driven largely by a sharp jump in duty-free imports from Nepal, industry body Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said on Tuesday. Imports had stood at 161.82 lakh tonnes in the prior fiscal year. Nepal, which enjoys zero-duty access to Indian markets under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, exported 7.36 lakh tonnes of edible oils to India during the year, more than double the 3.45 lakh tonnes shipped in the previous fiscal, a rise of 113 per cent. Refined soybean oil made up the bulk of Nepal's exports to India, with smaller volumes of sunflower oil, RBD Palmolein and rapeseed oil also traded. "The surge in duty-free imports of refined oils from Nepal substantially contributed to the increase in India's total edible oil imports during the year," SEA said in a statement. The association said that without the SAFTA arrangement, overall imports would likely have .

India is in a far healthier position from an economic perspective than it was during the taper tantrum period

India's vegetable oil imports rose 13 per cent to 7.94 million tonnes in the first six months of the 2025-26 oil year, driven by a sharp surge in palm oil shipments, industry body the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said on Wednesday. The world's largest cooking oil consumer imported 7.04 million tonnes in the same period a year earlier. India's oil year runs from November to October. In value terms, imports for the November-April period climbed 19 per cent to Rs 87,000 crore up from Rs 73,000 crore a year-ago. Of the total imports, edible oils accounted for 7.82 million tonnes and non-edible oils for 121,000 tonnes, SEA said in a statement. Palm oil imports nearly doubled to 3.97 million tonnes from 2.74 million tonnes a year earlier, while soft oil shipments, which include soybean and sunflower oils, fell to 3.85 million tonnes from 4.13 million tonnes. Indonesia and Malaysia are the primary suppliers of palm oil to India. Argentina is the largest supplier of soy

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Imports from Russia nearly doubled from February to 2.25 million bpd in March while shipments from the West Asia slumped 61 per cent to 1.18 million bpd

India is relying on Russian oil to meet most of its demand using a temporary waiver as the US-Israeli war on Iran keeps the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed

More than 500 million barrels of crude and condensate have already been knocked out of the global market

Last month, Washington unveiled ​30-day waivers on US sanctions for the purchase of Russian and Iranian oil at sea in ‌an attempt to ease prices that were driven up by the US-Israeli war on Iran

A US-sanctioned tanker carrying Iranian crude oil has rerouted mid-voyage from its previously indicated destination of India - where it would have marked the first such shipment in nearly seven years - to China. The Aframax tanker Ping Shun, built in 2002 and sanctioned by the US in 2025, is now signalling Dongying in China as its destination instead of Vadinar in Gujarat, which it had indicated earlier this week, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler. There is no confirmation that the destination that the ship's Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder - a tracking system mandated on most commercial vessels - is indicating is the final and it may not change at any time during the transit. "An Iranian crude vessel 'Ping Shun' that had been en route to Vadinar, India, over the past three days has dropped India as its declared destination near arrival and is now signalling China," said Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst, Refining and Modelling at commodity market analytic .

India's E20 fuel rollout boosts ethanol blending, but rising fuel demand keeps crude import dependence high, raising questions on its impact on energy security

Transactions are being carried out by depositing Indian rupees into special overseas bank accounts held by Russian sellers which are then being converted into UAE's dirham or the Chinese yuan

The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea

The ongoing oil crisis risks becoming a lost opportunity unless the government outlines a clear plan to reform exploration policies and boost India's domestic crude oil output

RBI report calls for close monitoring of West Asia conflict and proactive steps to limit spillovers, citing India's oil dependence and rising global volatility

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has "demanded" that about seven countries heavily reliant on Middle East oil join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth the world's traded oil flows through the waterway. Trump spoke while answering reporters' questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One. The president declined to name the countries he the administration is negotiating with for protection for the strait. "I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory," Trump said about the strait, claiming the vital shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. U.S. President Donald Trump's appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz "open and safe" brought no commitments on Sunday as oil prices soar during the Iran war. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told

India's net oil import bill could rise by $56-64 billion annually assuming global crude averages $110-115 per barrel in FY27

The measure, which applies only to oil loaded before March 12, expands upon a month-long waiver given to India last week, which was intended for crude loaded on ships before March 5

India is exploring alternative LNG and LPG supplies to bypass the Strait of Hormuz as officials clarify that the US sanctions waiver covers Rosneft and Lukoil crude stranded at sea