(Reuters) -India’s crude oil imports fell 8.7% in July to 18.56 million metric tons month-on-month, the lowest level since February 2024, government data showed on Monday.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
India is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, making this data a key indicator of the country’s oil demand.
BY THE NUMBERS
On a yearly basis, crude oil imports fell 4.3% from 19.40 million tons in July 2024, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
Meanwhile, imports of crude oil products fell by about 12.8% on a yearly basis to 4.31 million tons in July, while product exports declined 2.1% to 5.02 million tons.
CONTEXT
India’s fuel consumption in July fell 4.3% month-on-month to 19.43 million tons, according to data released by the oil ministry.
Indian goods face additional U.S. tariffs of up to 50% effective August 27. Washington has already imposed 25% duties on shipments from India, higher than those on several other major trading partners. The additional tariffs are being imposed for India’s purchase of Russian oil.
India will address its future trade relationship with the United States with a “very open mind”, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, just days before heavy extra U.S. tariffs are due to hit imports from the country.
India’s state-run refiners Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have bought Russian oil for September and October delivery, resuming purchases after discounts widened, two company officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
Indian refiner Nayara Energy, backed by Russia and under European Union sanctions, is relying on a dark fleet to import oil and transport refined fuels, according to shipping reports and LSEG flows.
KEY QUOTE
“I guess the U.S. tariff threat on Russian oil purchases likely weighed on Indian oil imports last month,” said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
NOTE: The data for imports and exports is preliminary because private refiners share numbers at their discretion.
All figures are in millions of metric tons:
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
CRUDE OIL July June May July June May
IMPORTS 18.56 20.32 21.33 19.40 18.81 22.03
Imports:
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
PRODUCTS July June May July June May
Petrol 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.09
Naphtha 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.17 0.00 0.07
Kerosene 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Diesel 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Fuel Oil 0.54 0.54 0.51 0.82 0.65 0.62
All 4.31 4.32 4.20 4.94 3.62 4.37
Exports:
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
PRODUCTS July June May July June May
Petrol 1.20 1.27 1.45 1.07 1.24 1.28
Naphtha 0.60 0.68 0.72 0.46 0.49 0.39
Diesel 2.24 2.25 2.35 2.08 1.94 2.14
Fuel Oil 0.15 0.26 0.17 0.28 0.13 0.15
Jet Fuel 0.65 0.68 0.75 0.72 0.63 0.86
All 5.02 5.33 5.63 5.13 4.98 5.26
NOTE:
Totals may not match exactly as not all items are included in the table and figures are rounded.
(Reporting by Ishaan Arora; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)
