Russia's Share of India's Oil Imports Hits Two-Year High, But Now at a Premium

India bought 218.2 lakh tonnes of oil in May 2026, its highest monthly total since January and 12% more than in April. Yet this was still slightly lower than what India imported in May the previous year. Even so, India's oil import bill jumped sharply because global oil prices had risen steeply, from $64 a barrel a year earlier to $106 a barrel in May 2026.

Within this bigger import bill, Russia's role stood out. Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to 40.5% by volume and 42.6% by value in May 2026, the highest levels since mid-2024. This happened even though the actual quantity of oil India bought from Russia fell slightly compared to a year earlier. What pushed up the value was price, not volume.

For years, Russia had offered India oil at a discount compared to other sellers, a legacy of Western sanctions on Russian oil following its war with Ukraine. But data now shows that changed. Indian buyers paid about $916 per tonne for Russian oil in May 2026, compared to an average of $870 per tonne across all sources. That works out to a premium of roughly $46 per tonne, a reversal from the discounts seen as recently as February.

Experts point to a mix of reasons for this shift. Both India and China rely heavily on Russian oil, giving Russia more pricing power. This was worsened by supply disruptions from a new conflict in West Asia that began in late February 2026. According to Prerna Prabhakar of the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, Indian refineries have also been specifically adapted to process the type of crude oil Russia supplies, making it costly to switch suppliers even when prices rise.

Meanwhile, India has been trying to diversify where it buys oil from. Notably, it resumed importing oil from Venezuela and Iran, two countries that have faced U.S. sanctions in the past. Venezuela's oil sales to India rose from $605 million in April to $984 million in May, aided by the U.S. easing restrictions on Venezuelan oil exports since February.

Iran's case was more fragile. India imported $430.5 million worth of oil from Iran in April, which fell to $277 million in May. The U.S. only formally allowed Iran a temporary 60-day window to export oil in late June, but withdrew that waiver in early July after renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

Taken together, these trends show India navigating a complicated global oil market: leaning heavily on Russia despite rising costs, while cautiously testing supply from newly reopened but politically unstable sources like Iran and Venezuela.