India's crude oil loadings from Russia dip, but robust in December

Unless wider secondary sanctions are introduced, India is expected to continue sourcing from non-sanctioned Russian suppliers, say experts

India’s crude oil loadings from Russia have slumped, but remained fairly robust in December so far, despite the recent sanctions by the United States on two major Russian oil producers.

 

India-bound crude oil loading from Russia stood at 1.25 million barrels per day (mbpd) until December 11, against an average of 1.68 million bpd in 2025 so far, according to data from shipping intelligence firm Kpler. This positions Russia as India’s top crude oil supplier for December.

 

Crude oil loadings are shipments loaded in the origin country meant to be delivered at Indian ports. Kpler, however, added that final port