Indian refiners face sourcing dilemma

With new capacity, buyers must navigate sanctioned Russian crude, a return to traditional OPEC barrels and diversity of supply

India, the world’s third-largest importer of crude, shows no sign of waning appetite, with refining capacity expected to expand in 2025. Russia and OPEC’s Middle East grades have been top of the menu, and that may well continue up to a point. But sanctions, geopolitical shifts and crude quality mean it may no longer be a simple straight shoot out even if OPEC producers now have the upper hand. India imported 4.84m b/d of crude oil in 2024, registering growth of 4.3% from 2023. On a regional basis, OPEC was the largest supplier to India. The region accounted for 51.5% of total exports in 2024, as compared with 49.6% in 2023. However, on individual country basis, Russia was the largest crude o