(Reuters) -India’s crude oil imports in June fell 4.7% month-on-month to 20.32 million metric tons, the lowest level since February, 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 rose more than 8% from 18.81 million tons in June 2024, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Imports of crude oil products climbed by more than 19.61% on a yearly basis to 4.33 million tons in June, while product exports rose more than 7% to 5.33 million tons.
CONTEXT
India’s fuel consumption in June fell 4.7% month-on-month to 20.31 million metric tons, according to data released by the oil ministry on Monday.
Indian private refiners, which have capitalised on discounted Russian crude to boost margins, will now have to find workarounds and increasingly depend on traders to access new markets for their products, following the latest round of European Union sanctions, according to traders and industry sources.
Indian refiners’ crude throughput declined by 4.2% month-on-month in June to 5.41 million barrels per day (22.13 million metric tons), according to provisional government data released last week.
India plans to source about 10% of its cooking gas imports from the U.S. starting in 2026, as part of a broader push to expand energy trade and help narrow its trade deficit with Washington, according to four refining industry sources familiar with the matter.
KEY QUOTE
“Refinery runs were lower in June versus May. This likely was driven by seasonally declining domestic oil demand due to the monsoon,” said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
“This trend is likely to continue into July. In contrast, year-on-year imports should still be rising with Indian oil demand still pointing upwards,” Staunovo said.
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 June May April June May April
IMPORTS 20.32 21.32 20.99 18.81 22.03 21.44
Imports:
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
PRODUCTS June May April June May April
Petrol 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.03
Naphtha 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.07 0.12
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 0.56 0.51 0.30 0.65 0.62 0.79
All 4.33 4.20 3.93 3.62 4.37 4.32
Exports:
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
PRODUCTS June May April June May April
Petrol 1.27 1.45 1.22 1.24 1.28 1.18
Naphtha 0.68 0.72 0.58 0.49 0.39 0.44
Diesel 2.25 2.35 1.30 1.94 2.14 2.00
Fuel Oil 0.26 0.17 0.14 0.13 0.15 0.12
Jet Fuel 0.68 0.75 0.49 0.63 0.86 0.64
All 5.33 5.63 4.04 4.98 5.26 4.75
NOTE:
Totals may not match exactly as not all items are included in the table and figures are rounded.
(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
