India's October crude oil imports rise to six-month high

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals

20/11/2025 14:27

Nov 20 (Reuters) - India's crude oil imports rose nearly 9% in October to 20.28 million metric tons month-on-month, their highest level since April, government data showed on Thursday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, making this data a key indicator of its oil demand.

BY THE NUMBERS

On a yearly basis, crude oil imports rose 3.7%, from 19.56 million tons in October 2024, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell shows.

Meanwhile, imports of crude oil products fell about 7.1% on a yearly basis to 4.35 million tons in October, while product exports rose 1.4% to 5.12 million tons.

KEY QUOTE

       "Looking at tanker tracking data, there was an increase in imports coming from Russia. So assume an attractive price discount supported those import increase," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

       "Another factor is still the seasonally rising demand, which supports higher imports during 4Q."

CONTEXT

India's crude oil imports from Russia are expected to have risen slightly in October from a month earlier, according to preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler and OilX. But it is expected to slow starting in November after the U.S. sanctioned two major suppliers last month.

Fresh U.S. sanctions targeted Russia's two top oil producers, Lukoil and Rosneft. The U.S. has given companies until November 21 to stop their transactions with these Russian oil producers.

India's Reliance Industries, Mangalore Refinery and HPCL-Mittal Energy have halted Russian oil purchases, while other refiners weigh sourcing from non-sanctioned producers.

India became the top buyer of seaborne Russian crude after Moscow's 2022 invasion, importing 1.9 million bpd in the first nine months of 2025—about 40% of Russia's exports, according to the International Energy Agency.

NOTE: The data for imports and exports is preliminary because private refiners share numbers at their discretion.

All figures are in millions of metric tons:

2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
CRUDE OIL
October
September
August
October
September
August
IMPORTS
20.28
18.61
18.64
19.56
15.94
19.29

Imports:

2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
PRODUCTS
October
September
August
October
September
August
Petrol
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.06
0.00
Naphtha
0.08
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.08
0.15
Kerosene
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Diesel
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Fuel Oil
0.64
0.70
0.37
0.74
0.64
0.62
All
4.35
4.45
4.07
4.68
3.64
4.20

Exports:

2025
2025
2025
2024
2024
2024
PRODUCTS
October
September
August
October
September
August
Petrol
1.37
1.57
1.53
1.12
1.25
1.18
Naphtha
0.28
0.45
0.58
0.33
0.42
0.41
Diesel
2.71
3.11
2.58
2.35
2.70
2.10
Fuel Oil
0.07
0.20
0.23
0.20
0.38
0.29
Jet Fuel
0.51
0.69
0.56
0.66
0.92
0.70
All
5.12
6.18
5.66
5.05
6.49
5.09

NOTE:

Totals may not match exactly as not all items are included in the table and figures are rounded.

(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru)

((Noel.John@thomsonreuters.com;))