NEW DELHI: As the conflict between Iran and Israel continues to escalate and affect global crude supplies, the United States on Friday granted India a temporary 30-day waiver to import crude oil from Russia. The move comes amid concerns over disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global crude oil and gas shipments.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the Treasury Department was issuing the waiver to allow Indian refiners to buy Russian oil so that supplies continue to flow into global markets. However, he warned that the measure was deliberately short-term and would not provide significant financial benefits to the Russian government, as it only allows transactions involving oil that is already stranded at sea.
“President Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
India imports nearly 88% of its crude oil requirements from around 41 countries. After the Russia–Ukraine war began, India increased its purchases from Russia from about 2% to around 40% of its total crude imports. The Indian government has faced criticism from some quarters for importing cheaper Russian crude and allegedly helping fund Russia’s war.
Following pressure from Washington — including an additional 25% tariff on certain Indian imports to the US and sanctions imposed in 2025 on two major Russian suppliers, Rosneft and Lukoil — India has significantly reduced its imports from Russia.
In recent months, India has shifted towards traditional West Asian suppliers, increasing crude imports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Despite the reduction, Russia remained India’s largest crude supplier in February 2026. State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) emerged as the biggest buyer of Russian oil, importing about 0.378 million barrels per day (mb/d). According to commodity market analytics firm Kpler, India’s total crude imports in February stood at around 4.106 mb/d, of which Russian crude accounted for about 1.042 mb/d.
“This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea. India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Meanwhile, India has said it has adequate crude oil and gas inventories to meet domestic demand for petrol and diesel for the next six to eight weeks. According to a Petroleum Ministry official, oil marketing companies currently hold around 25 days of crude oil stocks and another 25 days of petrol and diesel inventories, taking the total available stock to nearly 50 days.
India imports around 40% of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz, while the remaining 60% comes from other routes. The government said the country is in a comfortable position regarding fuel supply and is in talks with major suppliers as well as organisations such as OPEC and the International Energy Agency to ensure smooth crude supply.
“We have sufficient supply of crude and LPG in the country. Moreover, along with the stock of crude in the country and with the oil marketing companies, the stock has been replenished with other suppliers,” the official said.
India has also increased imports of crude oil and cooking fuel LPG from the United States in recent months.
