India fell to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December 2025 after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners sharply cut crude oil imports, a European think tank said on Tuesday. "India was the third highest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing a total of Euro 2.3 billion of Russian hydrocarbons in December," CREA said. "India's Russian crude imports recorded a sharp 29 per cent month-on-month reduction to the lowest volumes since the implementation of the price cap policy. The importers included the EU (Euro 436 million), USA (Euro 189 million), UK (Euro 34 million) and Australia (Euro 283 million). Seaborne crude imports rose 23 per cent month-on-month, driven by higher ESPO-grade crude inflows, while Urals-grade imports increased 15 per cent, reaching the highest fourth-quarter volumes since Q2 2023.

Source: The Telegraph January 13, 2026 10:19 UTC