India Has Received Eight Times More Russian Oil Tankers Since Ukraine Crisis Began: Report

The US has expressed displeasure over India purchasing Russian oil amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis. Russian oil deliveries account for less than one per cent of India's overall annual imports, while New Delhi said it requires 5 million barrels per day, 60 per cent of which is supplied by Gulf nations.

Eight times as many oil tankers have arrived in India from Russia since the beginning of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine compared to the same period last year.

Data from financial market information provider Refinitive revealed that India was the destination of 25 of the 380 oil tankers that departed from Russia between 24 February and 18 April.

Close US allies South Korea and Japan have received 28 and nine tankers respectively. Nikkei Asia analysis based on tankers data shows that China's intake of Russian oil increased by 33 per cent in comparison to the same period last year.

The analysis found that of the 380 tankers that departed between 24 February and 18 April, 115 were headed to Asia.

Earlier on Thursday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that he was not aware of whether oil imports from Russia had increased or not.

However, Bagchi cited Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, who earlier said: "If you are looking at India's energy purchases from Russia, I suggest your attention should be on Europe."

Jaishankar had said that Europe had bought 15 per cent more oil and gas from Russia in March than it did the month before.

The US and UK have announced they will stop purchasing Russian oil as part of their response to Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine, which Moscow launched at the request of the Donbass republics.

However, European countries have declined to immediately stop purchasing Russian oil and gas due to a lack of alternatives, as they warned that the consequences of a Russian energy embargo would be catastrophic for Europe.

Tanker trackers showed that 41 Russian oil tankers headed to the Netherlands, 36 to Italy and nine to Germany between 1 March and 15 April.

The Wall Street Journal, citing data from TankerTrackers.com, reported that more than 11.1 million barrels of Russian oil had been sent to unknown destinations, compared to nearly zero prior to the special military operation.

The report claims that Russian oil exports to EU member states rebounded in April after dipping in March.

Jaishankar said on March 31 that he was certain "if we wait two to three months and actually look at who are the big buyers of Russian oil and gas, I suspect the list wouldn't be very different from what it used to be, and I suspect we (India) won't be top 10 on that list."

Indian ministers have publicly declared that their government would prefer to buy discounted oil from any producer — including Russia — to ensure cheap availability of energy resources to its people.

In March, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak offered India's Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri a discount of up to 30 per cent per barrel below the international market price.