Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 13: Russia imported a record volume of oil products in August. India supplied 70% of these imports. Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted Russian refining capacity, forcing unusual fuel flows, according to CREA.
Russia imported a record 172,000 tonnes of oil products in August. India supplied roughly 70% of these imports, according to CREA. The surge followed sustained Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries. Those strikes have disrupted domestic fuel production inside Russia.
Why Russia Is Importing Fuel From India
Russia has traditionally been a major refined-fuel exporter. Ukrainian drone attacks have damaged several Russian refineries this year. That damage has reduced Russia’s ability to produce fuel domestically. Gasoline shortages appear to have followed the disruption, CREA said.
India stepped in to fill part of this gap. Indian shipments included around 120,000 tonnes of gasoline. CREA valued these gasoline shipments at roughly €78 million. August’s total import volume was over seven times the previous monthly record. It was also nearly three times all of 2025’s imports combined.
Gasoline made up 74% of Russia’s oil-product imports in August. Between 2023 and 2025, gasoline averaged just 6% of imports. This shift highlights the scale of Russia’s domestic fuel squeeze.
Russian Crude Goes to India and Fuel Comes Back
CREA’s report traces an unusual supply chain. Russian crude is shipped to India for refining. Refined gasoline is then partly shipped back to Russia. According to CREA, all the gasoline came from the Vadinar refinery.
Nayara Energy, which is sanctioned by the EU, sold the fuel to Rosneft. Rosneft itself owns 49.13% of Nayara Energy, CREA said. Vadinar sourced all of its crude from Russia this year. That marks an increase from about 81% during 2025.
CREA framed this as a striking arrangement. It said Russia effectively pays a refinery it partly owns. That refinery processes Russian crude into fuel Russia cannot make itself. The finished fuel is then shipped back across the globe.
This report does not establish that the trade is illegal. It does highlight an unusual and circuitous supply pattern. Readers should treat CREA’s characterisation as analysis, not a legal finding.
How the Gasoline Cargoes Reached Russia
CREA also detailed the shipping route used for these cargoes. Gasoline cargoes were transferred ship-to-ship off Egypt’s coast. They were then unloaded at Russia’s Arctic port of Beloe More. CREA described all vessels involved as sanctioned tankers.
Four of the six tankers had previously used false flags, CREA said. These shipping details come directly from CREA’s monthly analysis. They have not been independently verified in this report.
Ukraine Strikes Squeeze Russian Refinery Output
Ukrainian drone strikes have targeted Russian refineries throughout the year. CREA said these attacks have disrupted domestic fuel production repeatedly. Russian oil-product loadings at ports fell for three straight months. August loadings were less than half of August 2025 levels.
Tuapse, once Russia’s fourth-largest oil-product export port, illustrates the impact. The port did not load a single cargo for a third consecutive month. CREA linked this directly to sustained drone attacks since May.
Novorossiysk, a key Black Sea export terminal, also suffered disruption. Crude loadings there fell 58% month-on-month in August. Loading operations stopped completely for nine consecutive days. CREA called this the longest interruption since the full invasion began.
India Remains a Major Buyer of Russian Crude
Despite exporting fuel back to Russia, India remains a large crude buyer. India stayed Russia’s second-largest fossil-fuel customer in August. China alone purchased more Russian energy than India did.
India imported roughly €4.8 billion worth of Russian hydrocarbons in August. Crude oil made up about €4.1 billion, or 87%, of that total. However, India’s Russian crude imports fell about 24% from July. That followed two months of record-high purchases.
Refinery-level trends varied across India. Imports at the Jamnagar refinery fell around 15%. Vadinar’s imports rose roughly 5% during the same period. Paradip saw a smaller 1% increase, according to CREA.
China Remains Russia’s Biggest Energy Customer
China continued to dominate Russia’s fossil-fuel export markets in August. Chinese purchases totalled approximately €8.4 billion during the month. That represented about 51% of revenue from Russia’s top five buyers.
Seaborne Russian crude imports into China rose 16% month-on-month. They were roughly 62% higher than August 2025 levels. This scale underscores China’s central role in Russian energy trade. India’s purchases, while significant, remain considerably smaller by comparison.
Higher Oil Prices Cushion Russia’s Revenue Decline
Russia’s overall fossil-fuel export revenues still declined in August. CREA estimated revenues fell about 8% to €604 million daily. Export volumes reportedly dropped by around 7% over the same period.
Seaborne petroleum-product exports fell approximately 21% by volume. Revenue from products delivered to destination ports fell sharply too. That figure dropped nearly 32% from July, reaching €78 million daily.
Yet higher global crude prices partly offset these volume declines. CREA said Urals crude averaged $69.90 a barrel in August. That price rose about 23% compared with the previous month. It remains well above the G7 and EU price cap of $44.10.
CREA also linked recent US-Israel strikes on Iran to higher prices. It estimated these price effects added roughly €31 billion to Russian export revenue. This gain was calculated over the six months following the strikes.
What the Unusual India-Russia Fuel Trade Means
The refinery loop connecting India and Russia reflects a broader mechanism. Russia remains a major crude producer despite domestic refining problems. Physical damage to refineries can create shortages of specific fuels. That can happen even while a country still exports crude oil.
India’s refining sector, including large complexes like Vadinar, can process this crude. It can then export finished products, including back to Russia itself. This dynamic shows how global refining capacity can substitute for damaged infrastructure.
The trade does not indicate a uniform rise in India’s Russian energy ties. Indian crude purchases actually fell from July’s elevated levels. It does show how sanctions, war damage and refining economics interact. Global fuel markets remain closely linked despite geopolitical fractures.
CREA’s findings offer a snapshot of these flows through August. Future months may show different patterns, depending on Ukrainian strikes and repairs. Analysts will likely watch Tuapse and Novorossiysk closely for signs of recovery.
