India’s crude import bill rose by 2.7% during FY25, reaching $137.0 billion compared to $133.4 billion in the same period of FY24, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
The country imported 234.3 million tonnes of crude oil between April and March, marking a 3.4% increase from 242.4 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.
In March alone, crude oil imports increased by nearly 6.3% to 22.1 million tonnes from the same period last year, while import bill remained the same at $12.1 billion.
India’s reliance on crude oil imports increased to 88.2% during FY25, up from 87.8% in FY24, amid rising demand.
Russian shipments of crude oil to India have rebounded in March after falling in February due to the US sanctions.
Even after the sanctions in January, Russian crude flows have remained resilient, averaging 1.68 million barrels per day in Q1 2025 owing to attractive discounts on Urals and other Russian grades and continued availability of non-sanctioned Russian-affiliated vessels, according to data from Kpler, global real-time data and analytics provider.
India’s crude oil imports in March 2025 reached approximately 5.3 million barrels per day — the highest monthly volume on record, according to Kpler’s data. Russia remained the top supplier, accounting for around 1.88 Mbd, followed by Iraq at 0.9 Mbd, Saudi Arabia at 0.56 Mbd, UAE at 0.43 Mbd, and the US at 0.29 Mbd.
Even with longer haul and shadow fleet reliance, Russian barrels remain $3-8/bbl cheaper than West Asian or US grades on a landed-cost basis, as per analysts.
While Russia still remains the top supplier, several Indian oil and gas companies have started seeking alternate sources for oil supplies particularly from the US amidst global uncertainty and continued US sanctions on Russia in an attempt to diversify their sourcing basket.
The US is among the top five suppliers of crude oil to the country. Analysts and industry players expect the imports of US crude oil and gas to increase going ahead as the two countries seek to strengthen energy trade and ties.
The country has already been seeing a sharp rise in volumes from the US touching 289,000 barrels per day in March, up from 113,000 bpd last year, according to data from Kpler. “WTI and Mars blends are attractive for Indian complex refiners and offer stable arbitrage windows from the US Gulf Coast,” Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst, refining & modeling at Kpler said.
India has also been gradually increasing its intake of Brazilian grades like Tupi and Búzios which are cost-competitive and suit Indian refining slates.
While the demand for crude oil and its products continues to rise, domestic production of oil remains lower with the country’s upstream companies producing 28.7 million tonnes of oil during FY25, down from 29.4 million tonnes in the same period of FY24.
India currently relies on imports for 88% of its crude oil and 50% of its natural gas needs. To reduce this dependency on imports, the government is emphasising on increased domestic exploration and production.
With the recent amendments in the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948, the government expects increased participation from the domestic and international players. The amendment broadens the definition of mineral oils which includes any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, coal bed methane, oil shale, shale gas, etc.
In fact, a consortium of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), and privately held Reliance Industries and global energy major bp won for the first time an offshore oil block in Gujarat in the ninth round of bidding under the open acreage licensing policy (OALP). While ONGC won a majority of the blocks — 11 on its own and another four with different partners — Vedanta’s Cairn Oil and Gas won seven oil blocks, showcasing increased private sector participation in the sector.