India's importation of Russian crude increased to between two million and 2.25 million barrels per day in April 2026, the country's petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri told local media recently.
The figure is around one and a half times higher compared to what was recorded during February 2026, when India's Russian crude imports peaked at 1.05 million barrels per day.
In early 2022, prior to the outbreak of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, India's purchases of Russian crude had comprised less than one per cent of total imports, as the country had traditionally sourced its oil from the Middle East.
Puri added that New Delhi's oil and gas reserves would suffice for 76 to 80 days, and that any possible shortage can be compensated by imports from the Western Hemisphere, particularly the United States and Canada.
The reserves would allow India to endure the projected shortage that would follow a month-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the minister remarked.
The US meanwhile became India's largest supplier of LNG and LPG for the month of May 2026, after gas supplies from previous top exporters Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE were disrupted by the ongoing Middle East conflict.
