India has emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in June 2026, importing a total of EUR 5.5 billion of Russian hydrocarbons according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Crude oil constituted 83% of India's purchases, totalling EUR 4.5 billion, while oil products accounted for EUR 488 million and coal for EUR 444 million. India's total crude import volumes recorded a 5.4% month-on-month increase in June 2026, with India's imports of Russian crude oil reaching the highest level on record, rising 34% month-on-month. The Jamnagar refinery saw the largest month-on-month rise in imported volumes of Russian crude with a 150% increase, followed by Paradip (126%), Kochi (83%), and Vadinar (45%). As per Business Standard, the sharp increase came as India's overall crude imports rose 5.4% month-on-month, with Russian supplies to key refineries posting steep gains.
Russia has begun importing gasoline from India as its refining capacity faces severe disruption from the Ukraine war. According to Reuters reports, traders have sold gasoline produced by Nayara Energy, a Russia-backed refinery in India that has processed only Russian crude since EU sanctions imposed in July 2025. First batches of Indian gasoline between 60,000 and 80,000 tons are expected to arrive at Russian ports in June, following the 60,000 metric tons dispatched last week. However, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has clarified that Indian companies are not directly selling gasoline to Russia, stating that the purchases represent Indian-origin products from traders rather than direct refiner sales.
The Ukraine war has severely impacted Russia's refining infrastructure, with estimates suggesting over 40% of Russia's refining capabilities have been affected by persistent strikes and drone attacks. As reported by Grant Thornton Bharat's Sourav Mitra, Russian refinery throughput fell to its lowest level since 2009, with average refinery runs declining to about 4.69 million b/d by April 2026. Russian fuel production in June 2026 was significantly lower than a year earlier, with gasoline production declining by approximately 25% year-on-year. According to Kpler's Nikhil Dubey, around 45% of Russia's refining capacity, equivalent to approximately 3.3 mbd, was taken offline in June due to Ukraine's attacks. In June 2026, Russia's seaborne oil product loading volumes hit their lowest level on record, with Tuapse seeing product loadings fall to zero in June after sustained drone strikes in May.
Russia has ramped up gasoline imports from Belarus to unprecedented levels in an effort to address domestic fuel shortages impacting regions from the Far East to Kaliningrad. Deliveries of gasoline from Belarusian refineries to Russia surged to more than 181,000 tons in June, triple the amount supplied in May which stood at 77,000 tons. Over the first half of the year, Russia's imports of gasoline from Belarus soared twentyfold, reaching 453,000 tons. Meanwhile, diesel imports from Belarus rose fivefold to 256,000 tons between January and June, while Russian imports of more than 16,000 tons of Belarusian jet fuel were three times higher than May volumes. Belarus, which operates two refineries with a combined annual capacity of 24 million tons, had previously offered to compensate for shortfalls at Russian plants.
Global refining margins for gasoline and diesel have surged to record highs as geopolitical tensions, Russia's diesel export ban, and low fuel inventories tighten fuel supplies worldwide. Diesel refining margins in Europe jumped to a record high of over $60 per barrel on Wednesday after Russia announced a ban on diesel exports in a bid to ease its domestic fuel crisis caused by a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries. In addition, gasoline in Europe traded at a four-year high premium to crude of $41 per barrel, according to data compiled by Reuters. The last time European gasoline traded at such a high premium over Brent Crude was in the summer of 2022, in the early months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the United States, the prompt NYMEX 3-2-1 crack spread contract hit a record high of $64.58 per barrel on July 8, according to data compiled by Reuters. As Sparta Commodities noted, "European cracks have jumped past $60 as Brazil, Africa and Turkey scramble for replacement barrels from India, the Middle East and the US Gulf. US diesel stocks are already near 5-year lows."
India continued to play a key role in global trade flows of refined fuels produced from Russian crude, with refineries in India, Turkey, Brunei and Georgia exporting oil products worth EUR 814 million to countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia in June, including the European Union, Australia and the United States. An estimated EUR 369 million of those exports were refined from Russian crude, according to CREA. The report noted that despite the European Union's ban on imports of oil products made from Russian crude, two shipments from Indian refineries using Russian crude were unloaded at EU ports in June. It also highlighted that the United Kingdom received its first cargo of jet fuel from Jamnagar after allowing imports of diesel and jet fuel refined from Russian crude under an exemption, with the cargo valued at approximately EUR 63 million unloaded at Thames Haven and Isle of Grain ports.
