India's March crude imports slide on Iran war, Russian volumes hit record high, data shows

New Delhi: India's crude oil imports fell 13% in March from pre-war ​levels in February, with half coming ​from Russia, after the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran halted Middle Eastern ​shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, shipping data showed.

The world's third-largest oil importer and consumer imported 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in March, the data obtained from industry sources showed.

Imports from Russia nearly ‌doubled from February ⁠to 2.25 ⁠million bpd in March while shipments from the Middle East slumped 61% to 1.18 million bpd.

Also Read: Oil prices surge from Iran conflict boosts global biofuel demand

Traffic at the ​Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply, has come to a ​standstill after Iran and the United States blocked vessels from passing.

Only a handful of oil tankers have sailed to India in the past two months while two Indian-flagged ships were attacked ​while trying to cross the strait on Saturday.

The share ⁠of Middle Eastern ‌oil in India's crude imports declined to the lowest level ever ​at 26.3% in ​March, the data

showed, with shipments from Iraq and United Arab Emirates ⁠falling to multi-year lows.

To replace Middle East oil, Indian refiners snapped ​up Russian oil floating at sea after New Delhi was ​the first to get a waiver from the United States to buy the sanctioned supply.

India's Russian oil imports are expected to remain robust after the Trump administration on Friday renewed a waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil at sea for about a month.

Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India in March, while Saudi Arabia replaced ‌Iraq to emerge as the second-biggest supplier. Angola was at No. 3 as Indian refiners raised imports from Africa to replace Middle East supply, followed ​by United Arab ​Emirates and Iraq, the ⁠data showed.

Due to lower imports from the Middle East, the share of OPEC's oil in India's overall imports declined to the lowest ever of 29%.

Also Read: Oil falls on expectations US-Iran talks likely to proceed, opening supply

In the fiscal year to March 2026, ​India's Russian oil imports fell 6.2% from a year earlier as refiners slowed purchases from Moscow to help New Delhi clinch an interim trade deal with Washington.

That dragged down the share of the Commonwealth of Independent states and helped improve the share of Middle Eastern oil in India's imports while restricting the share of Russian oil to 33% from 36%.