New Delhi: India's purchases of Russian crude oil fell sharply in April, pulled down primarily by a maintenance-related shutdown at Nayara Energy's Vadinar refinery, European energy think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report.
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India imported Euro 4.5 billion worth of Russian crude in April, down from Euro 5.3 billion in March — a decline of more than 15 percent. Total Russian hydrocarbon imports, including coal and oil products, fell to Euro 5 billion from Euro 5.8 billion the previous month.
Crude oil remained the dominant component, accounting for 90 percent of India's Russian energy purchases. Coal and oil products made up the rest, at Euro 297 million and Euro 209 million, respectively.
The Vadinar refinery, operated by Nayara Energy in which Russian oil giant Rosneft is a major shareholder, began maintenance shutdowns on April 9 this year. Since the refinery runs exclusively on Russian feedstock, its temporary closure had an outsized effect on overall import volumes.
CREA noted significant shifts in the pattern of Russian crude unloading across Indian installations. "There was a substantial change in the installations' unloading of Russian crude, with Vadinar and Jamnagar refineries' imports decreasing by almost 92 percent and 38 percent, respectively, while the state-owned Indian Oil Vadinar's increased by 87 percent," it said.
India's total crude import volumes across all origins recorded a 3.7 percent reduction in April, with the think tank attributing this "partially" to a 19.4 percent month-on-month decrease in Russian imports specifically.
Not all Indian refiners moved in the same direction. The state-owned refineries at New Mangalore and Visakhapatnam, which had halted Russian crude purchases at the end of November 2025, resumed imports in March 2026 and continued buying through April. Visakhapatnam's Russian imports jumped 149 percent month-on-month.
The resumption by state refiners followed a US sanctions waiver on Russian oil, covering cargoes already at sea and shipments on previously sanctioned vessels. Washington extended the waiver to ease prices that had spiked following its military engagement with Iran, prompting state companies that had paused Russian oil purchases to resume imports from Moscow.
Despite the April dip, India retained its position as the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels globally during the month, behind China. CREA data covering the period from December 5, 2022 to the end of April 2026 shows China has bought 49 percent of Russia's total crude exports, with India accounting for 37 percent — the second-largest share. For Russian coal over the same period, China led with 37 percent, followed by India at 19 percent, Turkiye at 15 percent, South Korea at 12 percent, and Taiwan at 4 percent.
The price environment for Russian crude shifted markedly in April. The average price of Russia's Urals grade rose 19 percent month-on-month to USD 112.3 per barrel — more than double the updated EU and UK price cap of USD 44.1 per barrel, which came into effect on February 1, 2026.
The discount at which Urals trades relative to the global benchmark Brent narrowed sharply as demand for Russian crude picked up following the extended US sanctions waiver, alongside constraints on tanker availability. CREA noted that while freight and insurance costs for longer voyages involving sanctioned Russian crude have pushed prices higher, Free-on-Board prices are "likely still at a discount to Brent."
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CREA flagged that refined products derived from Russian crude are continuing to reach markets that have imposed sanctions on Moscow. "Refineries using Russian crude in India, Turkiye, Brunei, and Georgia exported Euro 760 million of oil products to sanctioning countries in April 2026. The importers included the EU (Euro 145 million), Australia (Euro 399 million), and the US (Euro 216 million). An estimated Euro 232 million of these products were refined from Russian crude," the think tank said.
