India is now increasing crude oil purchases from Russia while reactivating imports from Africa, Iran and Venezuela to cover global supply shortages. The move is seen as a contingency strategy after major disruptions in West Asia, with reports showing India also increasing imports from African countries such as Angola.
India has also resumed buying Iranian oil for the first time since 2019, in addition to increasing purchases from Venezuela to the highest level in several years.
As the world's third-largest oil buyer, India usually gets almost half of its crude supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic route is now operating on a limited basis after the conflict involving the United States and Iran, which has disrupted the flow of about a fifth of global oil supplies.
India's high dependence on oil imports makes the country highly vulnerable to a surge in oil prices. However, despite the disruption in cooking gas supplies, India has managed to avoid a more serious gasoline shortage by diversifying its import sources to more than 40 countries and increasing purchases from Russia and the Western hemisphere.
Russia Now India's Savior
The main factor that is now saving it is Russian oil. While New Delhi had previously tried to reduce imports from Russia to maintain trade ties with the United States, the current situation has forced them to return to reliance on that source. In March, Russian oil imports rose sharply to account for almost half of India's total imports, with volumes reaching around 2.2 million barrels per day, almost double the previous month.
The surge was also supported by a temporary waiver from the United States that allowed purchases of Russian oil for a certain period, as well as the urgent need to ensure domestic energy security. At the same time, Indian refiners have also started turning to alternative sources including Venezuela and Brazil to stabilize supplies.
For the record, petrol and diesel prices in India have remained relatively stable at around ₹94–95 (RM5.50) per litre for petrol and ₹87–88 (RM5.10) per litre for diesel, even though real global market prices have risen significantly due to the crisis, as a result of government intervention through tax cuts and cost absorption by oil companies.
