India’s Russian oil binge to end in Dec as sanctions bite

India's Russian oil imports are set to hit their lowest in at least three years in December, down from multi-month highs in November, as refiners turned to alternatives to avoid breaching Western sanctions, trade and refining sources said.

Britain, the European Union and the United States have tightened sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, with Washington's latest measures targeting top Russian producers Rosneft and Lukoil.

Buyers of Russian oil had until November 21 to wind down dealings with the two firms.

Separately, the EU has set a January 21 deadline after which it will decline fuel from refineries that handled Russian crude within 60 days of the bill of lading.

Bank scrutiny following the latest US sanctions has made Indian state refiners "extremely cautious", one of the refining sources said, adding that India is likely to get 600,000 to 650,000 barrels per day of Russian oil in December.

These include imports by Indian Oil Corp, Nayara Energy and delivery of some November-loading cargoes for Reliance Industries, the source added, citing preliminary lifting plans of Indian companies.

This month, India is expected to receive 1.87 million bpd of Russian crude, provisional data from Kpler showed. In October, it imported 1.65 million bpd of Russian oil, up 2 percent from September, data from trade sources shows.

"Russian supply is expected to be high in November as many refineries tried to fill the stocks prior to the US sanctions deadline and also due to the rule for oil products production for EU market from non-Russian oil from 2026," said a trade source.