Indian refiners' crude throughput rose by 6.8 per cent month-on-month in October to 5.50 million barrels per day (22.50 million tonnes), provisional government data showed on Monday. Refinery throughput in September was at 5.15 million barrels per day (21.07 million tonnes).
On a year-on-year basis, refinery throughput gained 5.6 per cent in October. India’s fuel consumption hit a five-month high in October, with demand rising 7.7 per cent from September to 20.17 million tonnes, oil ministry data showed on Friday.
India’s crude oil imports rose nearly nine per cent in October to 20.28 million tonnes month-on-month, their highest level since April, government data showed on Thursday.
The country is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer. Indian refiners had paused purchases of Russian oil after Washington sanctioned two major Russian crude exporters, as they awaited government guidance and sought spot-market alternatives, industry sources said in late October.
On October 22, US President Donald Trump imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft.
However, top refiner Indian Oil Corp then bought five cargoes of Russian oil for December delivery from non-sanctioned entities, traders said, despite US pressure on New Delhi to curb imports.
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.
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 per cent of Russia’s exports, according to the International Energy Agency.
(Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru;)