India's Russian Crude Imports Hit Record $6.4 Billion in July

Indian refiners bought Russian crude worth about $6.4 billion in July, roughly ₹61,000 crore, a record in value terms and above the $5.14 billion peak set in June 2026, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Moscow has turned into New Delhi's strongest energy security hedge, analysts and refiners said, citing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the growing disruptions in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. "India's imports of Russian crude oil reached a record high for the second consecutive month in July 2026, rising by 2.1 per cent M-o-M and valued at euro 5.5 billion," CREA, a Finland-based research group, said.

The 2.1 per cent gain in value came in a month when Urals prices fell 3 per cent, so the volume increase was steeper than the value line suggests. The figure made India the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in July. Total hydrocarbon purchases came to €6.4 billion, or $7.4 billion, with crude at 87 per cent of the value. Coal, at €512 million, and oil products, at €341 million, made up the rest.

Which Refineries Drove the Record

The July gain did not start at Jamnagar and Paradip, India's two biggest Russian-crude terminals, CREA said. Imports rose 58 per cent at HPCL Mittal Energy's Mundra terminal and 35 per cent at IndianOil's Vadinar SMPL facility. Mumbai took 37 per cent more. Jamnagar, the Reliance Industries complex, held volumes steady from June; Paradip, run by Indian Oil Corporation, took 22 per cent less. The intake is broadening across the refining system rather than stacking up at its largest units.

The crude and product sides of Russia's export picture moved in opposite directions in July. Oil product loadings fell 23 per cent to 4.7 million tonnes, the lowest on record and less than half the 9.6 million tonnes loaded in July 2025, CREA said. July pairs the record crude flow with the weakest product loadings CREA has recorded. Tuapse, under sustained drone attack since May, loaded almost no oil products for a second consecutive month.

Urals Pricing and EU Product Flows

Urals crude averaged $60.22 a barrel in July, down 3 per cent from June. CREA put the grade's discount to Brent at 26 per cent, about $21 a barrel, flat on the month. The price still sits about $16 above the $44.1 cap the EU and UK imposed on Russian crude, a ceiling the bloc held unchanged in its 21st sanctions package, which took effect Feb. 1, 2026.

The cap bars Western shipping and insurance providers from handling cargoes bought above the level. It does not bar Indian buyers, and July's record intake at an average of $60.22 moved on non-Western chains. At about $21 below Brent, Russian crude stays the cheaper option for Indian buyers; the Gulf route remains shut.

Russia's crude export revenues came to €392 million a day in July, up 1 per cent month-on-month, CREA said. Pipeline earnings fell 21 per cent; seaborne revenues rose 7 per cent. The flat headline means Russia earned the same daily revenue on a larger crude intake.

CREA's July tracking also shows the sanctions exposure built into those flows. The Indian side of that trade runs both ways, with record crude arriving from Russia and product cargoes heading back out. The EU ban on oil products made from Russian crude did not stop 18 shipments from refineries processing Russian crude from unloading at EU ports in July, more than double June's total. The gap between the $44.1 ceiling and the $60.22 market price defines the sanctions exposure on each seaborne cargo, and those port arrivals show the product ban has not closed that route.

Refineries in India, Turkiye, Brunei, and Georgia that use Russian crude exported €633 million of oil products to sanctioning countries in July, CREA said.