Russian oil imports down to a 38-month low in December 2025 as India diversifies sources

The value of India’s crude oil imports from Russia fell to a 38-month low of $2.7 billion in December 2025, with Russian oil making up less than a quarter of India’s imports, down from 34% just a month before, an analysis of the latest data shows. Imports from the U.S. grew nearly 31% over December 2024.

The latest data comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump and his team have repeatedly claimed over the last week that India will be stopping its Russian oil purchases in exchange for the U.S. cutting tariffs on Indian imports from 50% to 18%.  

India, however, has neither confirmed nor denied this specific assertion. Instead, it has maintained that it is diversifying its energy sources “in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics”.

Falling Russian imports

India’s Russian oil imports, at $2.7 billion in December 2025, were 15% lower than the amount imported in December 2024, and 27.1% lower than the $3.7 billion worth of imports in November 2025.

As a result, Russia’s share in India’s overall oil imports fell to 24.9% in December 2025, the lowest in three years. In terms of volume, too, India imported 5.8 million tonnes, the lowest since February 2025.

Diversifying supplies

India imported $569.3 million worth of oil from the U.S. in December 2025. While this was 60.5% lower than the amount imported in November 2025, that was because November saw oil imports from the U.S. surging to a seven-month high. Oil imports from the U.S. were nearly 31% higher than in December 2024. 

In volume terms, India imported 1.1 million tonnes from the U.S. in December 2025, 58% higher than in December the previous year. 

Overall, December 2025 saw India diversifying its oil imports in a dynamic manner, sourcing crude oil from 19 countries, up from 16 countries in December 2024. Among these 19 countries, 10 saw their shares in India’s crude oil basket increasing, while nine saw their shares falling.