Russia Buying Gasoline From India To Tackle Fuel Shortages Triggered By Ukrainian Drone Strikes

Russia has started importing gasoline from India by sea to tackle nationwide fuel shortages triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries, two industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday, even as separate ship tracking data showed Indian refiners bought a record 2.70 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil in June.

Tankers Dispatched, As Fuel Shortages Spread Across Russia

At least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia, one of the sources said. Another source put the figure at two tankers, each carrying between 30,000 and 40,000 tons.

A third source said Russia intends to import 400,000 tons of gasoline every month from several countries to plug the gap, including Belarus, which has already been sending fuel to Russia by rail for months.

Russian gasoline

consumption runs to at least 110,000 tons a day in summer, when demand for fuel peaks and shortages bite hardest, the sources said. It remains unclear which Indian refiner is supplying the cargoes, and neither country’s oil ministry has confirmed the identity of the buyer or seller.

The shortages have left drivers across Russia’s 11 time zones facing rationing and long queues at filling stations, alongside a record increase in gasoline prices at the pump.

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the disruption on Sunday at a meeting with government ministers and other officials, telling them that Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries had triggered fuel shortages in some regions, though he said the government was already dealing with them.

Belarus Rail Supplies Nearly Triple, Tax Code Changed

Belarus almost tripled its gasoline rail shipments to Russia, sending more than 70,000 tons in the first half of June compared with the first half of May, according to Reuters calculations based on data and sources.

Russia’s parliament approved amendments to the tax code last week aimed specifically at tackling the fuel shortages caused by the drone attacks, including subsidies on fuel imports pegged to Indian delivery costs and prices.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia was in contact with other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices, without naming which countries were involved.

India’s Russian Oil Imports Climb To A Record 2.70 Million Barrels-Per-Day

Separately, India’s imports of Russian crude climbed to their highest level on record in June, according to ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler. Indian refiners received about 2.70 million barrels per day of Russian oil during the month, preliminary data from both trackers showed.

That compares with 2.13 million barrels per day in May by Kpler’s count and 1.95 million barrels per day by LSEG’s count, a gap between the two trackers that reflects differing methods of tracking cargoes at sea.

Russian oil accounted for more than half of India’s total crude imports in June, up from 36.5 percent in May, the Kpler data showed. India’s overall crude imports stayed nearly flat at 4.9 million barrels per day during the month, with Russia remaining the largest single supplier to the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer.

Hormuz Closure Pushes Refiners Further Toward Discounted Russian Crude

Indian refiners have leaned further on discounted Russian barrels to offset the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure on supplies reaching them from the Middle East, the data showed, with the discount making Russian cargoes more attractive at a time when alternative Gulf supply has grown harder to secure.

Russian oil has dominated India’s crude imports since 2022-23, after several European buyers stopped purchasing from Moscow in retaliation for its war on Ukraine, leaving discounted barrels available for Indian refiners to buy in place of costlier Gulf and Atlantic Basin crude.

The two flows sit on opposite sides of the same energy relationship. India is buying discounted Russian crude to cover a Middle East shortfall, and Russia is now buying Indian gasoline to cover a refinery shortfall of its own, created by the same conflict that has kept Russian oil flowing at a discount to Indian shores.

Neither Russia’s energy ministry nor India’s oil ministry had responded to requests for comment by Reuters as of Wednesday evening.