India's Russian oil imports hit record EUR 6.4 bn in Oct; crude accounts for 91%

India's purchases of Russian fossil fuels touched a record EUR 6.4 billion in October, making it the second-largest buyer of Moscow's energy exports after China, according to a report.

The purchases were India's highest monthly total in data going back to January 2022, with crude oil accounting for 91% of the imports, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in its monthly analysis.

"India was the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in October 2026, importing a total of EUR 6.4 bn of Russian hydrocarbons, its highest monthly total in data going back to January 2022," the report said.

Crude oil accounted for EUR 5.8 billion of India's purchases, while coal and oil products made up the remainder at EUR 333 million and EUR 232 million, respectively.

India's imports of Russian crude rose 10% month-on-month in October as purchases increased at all three of its largest importing refineries.

Imports at Vadinar Refinery, owned and operated by Nayara Energy Limited, rose 12%, while those at Reliance’s Jamnagar and IOCL’s Paradip increased 22% and 28%, respectively.

"This increase has once again made the Jamnagar refinery the biggest importer of seaborne Russian crude," CREA said.

The surge in India's purchases came in a month when Russia's overall fossil fuel export revenues rose 14% to EUR 754 million per day, the highest level since December 2022.

Russia's crude oil export revenues increased 19% month-on-month to EUR 449 million per day, the highest since June 2022.

Earnings from seaborne crude exports rose 23% to EUR 352 million per day, the highest monthly level in data going back to January 2022.

The report also flagged the continued flow of refined products from Indian refineries processing Russian crude to countries that have imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Twelve shipments of oil products from refineries processing Russian crude were unloaded at EU ports in October despite the bloc's ban on imports of such products, which came into force on January 21, 2026.

"Ten of these shipments departed from India's Jamnagar refinery, while two departed from Turkiye's STAR refinery," the report said.

Refineries in India, Turkiye and Brunei that use Russian crude exported oil products worth EUR 1.6 billion to sanctioning countries in October.

An estimated EUR 389 million of these products were refined from Russian crude.

The report said 30% of Jamnagar refinery's crude imports between August and October came from Russia.

According to CREA, the rise in Russian export earnings is partly due to higher global fossil fuel prices amid the energy crisis triggered by the West Asia conflict.

"The Hormuz energy crisis has delivered a substantial boost to Russia's fossil fuel export earnings," the report said.

China remained the largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in October, purchasing EUR 10.7 billion worth, while the European Union was the third-largest importer at EUR 2.2 billion.