India is still buying Russian oil while asking the U.S. to remove a 25% tariff

India is still buying Russian oil while asking the United States to remove a 25% tariff placed on Indian goods.

At the same time, New Delhi has been telling Washington that volumes have fallen. Both tracks are running together.

The request reached the White House through political channels. On Sunday, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said India’s ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, asked him to speak to President Donald Trump.

Graham said Kwatra told him India had reduced its intake of Russian oil and wanted relief from the tariff. Trump is the sitting president in 2025.

Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell 78 cents, or 1.37%, to $56.35 a barrel by press time, while Brent crude futures fell 61 cents, or 1%, to $60.09 a barrel, according to data from CNBC.

State refiners continue buying Russian crude

Data from energy analysts shows that overall Russian crude imports into India fell in December. The drop did not come from state buyers. It came from Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, which cut purchases after U.S. sanctions hit Lukoil and Rosneft in late November. Reliance had been a major buyer before those sanctions.

Public sector undertakings filled part of that gap. These include Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, said these firms continued to buy Russian crude for future delivery using suppliers not under sanctions. After that first mention, Xu said the buying did not stop.

The United States has kept pressure on India to scale back Russian oil purchases. U.S. officials say those sales help Moscow handle Western sanctions tied to the war in Ukraine. Analysts say the buying pattern changed, not collapsed.

Pankaj Srivastava at Rystad Energy said overall imports fell but state refiners kept intake steady.Rystad estimates imports dropped by about 300,000 barrels per day since November to 1.7 million barrels per day.

Srivastava said a recovery to 1.8 million barrels per day is expected in January. After his first mention, Srivastava said state refiners kept processing Russian crude due to fuel demand and pricing.

Kpler data also showed a decline. Imports fell by 595,000 barrels per day in December to 1.24 million barrels per day. That was the lowest level since December 2022. India remained one of the largest buyers even after the drop.

Russia expands shadow fleet as sanctions tighten

Russia has taken steps to protect oil shipments elsewhere. A Wall Street Journal report said Russia sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.

The report said the situation became a new flashpoint in U.S. Russia relations. Trump has said U.S. oil companies will invest billions of dollars in Venezuela’s energy sector after the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro.

Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil are expected to meet the administration. Trump said the companies would be reimbursed by the U.S. or paid through revenue.

Richard Meade, editor in chief of Lloyd’s List, said ships are switching flags fast. Meade said seventeen shadow fleet tankers moved from fraudulent flags to the Russian flag in recent weeks. After his first mention, Meade said the shift accelerated.

One vessel is the Bella 1, stopped by the United States on Dec. 20 while heading to Venezuela to load sanctioned crude. At the time, the ship used a fake Guyana flag. On Dec. 31, Russia told the U.S. the ship was renamed Marinera and registered under Russia. The vessel later left the Caribbean.

Automatic Identification System data tracked by Lloyd’s List shows the ship near Iceland and heading toward Russia. Meade said Venezuela risk is pushing Russia to absorb more shadow fleet vessels.

He said this shows a longer term structure with Moscow overseeing these ships. He said the next question is whether the U.S. will stop a Russian flagged tanker.

Not all ships have left Venezuela.The Premier, reflagged from Gambia to Russia on Dec. 22, remains empty near the Jose terminal.

Meade said other ships trying to leave are also using fake flags. Lloyd’s List said over 40 shadow fleet ships joined the Russian registry since June. Data shows more than 12% of the global tanker fleet now operates in the shadow fleet.

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