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A sudden halt to Russian crude imports would pose a supply-chain challenge for Indian refiners, potentially intensifying competition for alternative barrels and putting pressure on freight and procurement costs, while limited scope for further growth in Venezuelan oil output could constrain refiners' ability to exploit cheaper heavy crude, analysts said. Russian crude, which became a significant component of India's oil import basket after the Russia-Ukraine war, has lost some of its earlier pricing appeal as elevated freight costs eroded its advantage on a delivered basis. This has encouraged Indian refiners to look increasingly towards Middle Eastern grades, where shorter shipping routes and competitive delivered economics offer an alternative, according to Sumit Ritolia, senior manager for modelling at commodities intelligence firm Kpler. "Replacing Russian crude at scale is fundamentally a supply-chain challenge rather than simply a question of paying more per barrel," he ...
Ukrainian attacks set an oil export terminal ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday, as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones across Russia in one of its largest ever aerial bombardments. The attack comes amid deepening tensions between Ukraine and Washington, with U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv for its strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. One person was killed and five more were wounded in the attack, which sparked fires at both the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city's Ruchi oil depot, said local Gov. Alexander Beglov. A logistics center belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center for local tech giant VK were also targeted, both companies confirmed. Russia's Ministry of Defense said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Meanwhile, a woman died and at least two other people were wounded, including a 6-year-old girl, after Russia launched two .
India is expected to keep importing Russian crude at close to current levels after US President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs mandated by a new law on major buyers of Russian oil, analysts said. Trump issued an executive order late on Friday waiving the "sanctions, restrictions, and duties" under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a day before a 30-day deadline for enforcement expired. He signed the law on September 18. The law authorised tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude and gas, and sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet of tankers. The waiver is not specific to India and could also benefit China. The order lets the administration reconsider it later. India is the largest importer of Russian seaborne crude, averaging 1.8 million barrels per day this year, ahead of China at 1.2 million, ship tracking data showed. Italy, Turkey and the Netherlands completed the top five. India took about 1.82 million
A bipartisan group of US Senators have questioned the legality of President Donald Trump's decision to allow diesel imports from Russia, contending that it ran counter to a law banning such trade till Moscow ends the war in Ukraine. On Friday, after a phone call with Putin, Trump announced that he had struck a deal with Russia to immediately supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and the global marketplace. "Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine," US Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden (all Democrats), Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, and John Curtis (all Republicans), said in a statement here on Sunday. "President Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the US runs directly counter to that law," the Senators said. Trump's decision to allow imports of Russian oil to the US and global markets came weeks after the US Congress overwhelmingly pass
The US on Friday lifted sanctions on the sale of Russian diesel till April 7 next year. The announcement by the US Department of Treasury came minutes after US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and struck a deal to supply diesel to the American and global markets. "...all transactions prohibited by the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations that are related to the sale, delivery, offloading, or importation, including importation into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin are authorised through 12:01 am eastern daylight time, April 7, 2027," the Treasury Department said. Earlier, Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November, and one million tons immediately thereafter. Russia will then deliver another 3 million tons of diesel based on the condition of Russia's refineries, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Diesel prices have surged arou
US President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the US hit a record on Friday, soaring past USD 6 a gallon on average. Ukraine has for months been targeting Russia's oil and gas industry with long-range strikes, prompting fuel rationing across the country and causing Moscow to ban diesel exports in July, removing supplies from the already tight global market. But the global crunch also came after the war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in mid-term elections in November. Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Zelenskyy following his recent conversation with Russia's Vladimir Putin. He responded by calling on Zelenskyy to halt strikes against Russia. "Mr ...
Russia imported a record 172,000 tonnes of oil products in August, including gasoline refined from Russian crude at a refinery in India that is partly owned by Russia's Rosneft, as Ukrainian drone strikes disrupted Moscow's domestic refining capacity, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). India supplied 70 per cent of Russia's oil product imports in August, including 120,000 tonnes of gasoline worth 78 million euros, CREA said in its monthly analysis of Russian fossil fuel exports and sanctions. The volume of Russian fuel imports was more than seven times the previous monthly record and three times the total imported during all of 2025. All of the gasoline from India was loaded at the Vadinar refinery and sold by EU-sanctioned Nayara Energy to Rosneft, CREA said. Rosneft owns 49.13 per cent of Nayara Energy, while Vadinar sourced all of its crude from Russia during the first eight months of 2026, compared with 81 per cent for all of 2025, ..
India has emerged as a key supplier of gasoline (petrol) to Russia amid a surge in Russian fuel imports triggered by Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries, ship tracking data showed. Russia's seaborne gasoline imports surged to a record around 125,000 barrels per day (kbd) in August, equivalent to a projected 470,000 tonnes for the month, as repeated attacks on its refineries disrupted domestic fuel production, according to energy analytics firm Vortexa. Indian refiners supplied as much as 1 million barrels of gasoline in the last two months, trade sources said. The supplies essentially came from Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, operated by Nayara Energy, which is half owned by Russia's Rosneft. Since 2022, India has pivoted towards Russia to meet a bulk of its crude oil -- raw material for making fuels like petrol and diesel. India's purchases of Russian crude oil hit a record high as the conflict in the Gulf squeezes supply from other sources. India imported more than 2.6 million ...
A US Senate vote to advance tougher sanctions on Russia raises the risk of disruption to Russian crude supplies but is unlikely to immediately alter oil flows to India and China, according to Kpler analyst Sumit Ritolia. The US Senate on Friday passed a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that would give President Donald Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on imports from countries that are among the world's largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 targets the five biggest purchasers of Russian energy and is aimed at cutting Moscow's revenues from oil and gas sales. The measure still needs to clear the US House of Representatives and faces further legislative and administrative steps before it could take effect. According to Ritolia, the measures still face further legislative and administrative hurdles, while their impact will depend largely on how aggressively the US administration implements them, including wheth