{"id":1665858,"date":"2026-02-21T01:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1665858"},"modified":"2026-02-21T01:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:55:00","slug":"india-boosts-saudi-oil-imports-slows-russian-buying-amid-us-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/india-boosts-saudi-oil-imports-slows-russian-buying-amid-us-pressure\/1665858\/","title":{"rendered":"India Boosts Saudi Oil Imports, Slows Russian Buying, Amid US Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

India Boosts Saudi Oil Imports, Slows Russian Buying, Amid US Pressure<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Via The Cradle<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Saudi crude shipments to India are set to reach their highest level since 2020 this month<\/strong>, narrowing the gap with Russian supplies<\/strong> as New Delhi faces ongoing US pressure to reduce its purchases of Russian oil, according to data from\u00a0Kpler<\/a>\u00a0cited by\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a>\u00a0on Friday.<\/p>\n

Flows from Saudi Arabia are projected at between 1 million and 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), Kpler lead research analyst Sumit Ritolia said, describing the volumes as the strongest since November 2019, bringing Saudi exports broadly in line with Russian deliveries.<\/p>\n

Saudi Aramco<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Kpler estimates Russian crude shipments to India at around 1.2 million bpd this month, which would keep Moscow as India\u2019s largest supplier<\/strong>, though at levels well below the more than 2 million bpd seen at peak periods over the past three years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For March, Kpler forecasts Russian flows easing further to between 800,000 and 1 million bpd<\/strong>, noting that such a drop could allow Saudi Arabia to retake the top spot if Indian refiners\u00a0keep replacing Russian crude with Saudi shipments.<\/p>\n

In early February, US President Donald Trump\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a trade deal with India that linked tariff reductions to India halting purchases of Russian crude oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he would cut punitive tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s agreement that India would stop buying Russian oil. He even suggested New Delhi would increase purchases of US \u2013 and potentially Venezuelan \u2013 oil.<\/p>\n

Current import levels indicate that Indian buyers have not moved abruptly to cut Russian intake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

India emerged as a major buyer of Russian crude after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when discounted barrels diverted from Europe were rerouted to Asian markets \u2013 meaning that any loss of market share in India would shrink one of Moscow\u2019s main export outlets.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as Indian spot purchases soften, China’s imports of Russian oil are on track for a record month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russian share of India’s January oil imports lowest since late 2022, data shows
https:\/\/t.co\/w6wClXRX1Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) February 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Data from Vortexa and Kpler, cited by\u00a0Reuters, shows Chinese inflows at roughly 2.07\u20132.08 million bpd in February, underscoring a shift in trade patterns rather than a collapse in overall Russian exports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 02\/20\/2026 – 20:55<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/energy\/india-boosts-saudi-oil-imports-eases-russian-crude-amid-us-pressure<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

India Boosts Saudi Oil Imports, Slows Russian Buying, Amid US Pressure Via The Cradle Saudi crude shipments to India are set to reach their highest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1665859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1665858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1665858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1665859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1665858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1665858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1665858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}