Indian oil refineries play key role in Russia's circumvention of sanctions

India's refineries are operating at full capacity, converting Russian crude oil into petroleum products, which are then exported to Western countries.

Source: OilPrice

Details: India's imports from Russia jumped by 900% compared to the period before the full-scale war. In particular, oil supplies in 2023 increased to 82 million tonnes compared to 4.5 million tonnes in 2021.

This is primarily due to the fact that Russian oil is sent to India for refining and then back to Europe.

Quote from Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute: "India has become a massive refinery for Russian oil. That'd be fine if Russian oil went to India on Western ships operating under the G7 cap, but lots of this oil gets shipped on Putin's shadow fleet, which means India is helping fund Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This must stop."

More details: Russian oil supplies to China also increased by a third, from 80 million tonnes in 2021 to 107 million tonnes in 2023. As a result, 78% of Russia's oil exports went to China and India, up from 32% in 2021.

Thus, Chinese and Indian oil traders are responsible for the rapid growth in the number of shadow fleet tankers.

Background:

• Imports of Russian oil to India fell by 18% in July and August.
• The Indian government admitted that it buys Russian oil without any doubts, as long as it is not under sanctions.

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