India did not cut Russian oil purchases as Trump wants – Reuters

Indian sources speaking to Reuters denied data that the country had halved its purchases of Russian oil amid pressure from US president Donald Trump on India and other countries to do so.

Russian oil is the main irritant for the US president in the ongoing trade talks with India – half of the 50% of Trump's duties on Indian goods is a response to such purchases. The U.S. administration notes that Moscow is using oil revenues to finance its war against Ukraine.

on October 16, an unnamed White House official tells Reuters that talks with the Indian delegation in Washington this week were productive and that the country's refineries have already cut Russian oil imports by 50%.

However, the next day, media interlocutors in the Indian industry said that New Delhi had not informed refineries of any requests to reduce oil imports from Russia.

These companies have already placed orders for deliveries in November, including some cargoes that are due to arrive in December, so any reduction may be visible in the import figures for the first and second months of winter, the interlocutors noted.

According to Kpler, a specialized company, Russian oil imports to India are expected to increase by about 20% to 1.9 million barrels per day in October, as Moscow increases exports after Ukrainian drones hit its refinery.

The Indian Ministry of Petroleum and the country's refineries that buy this energy carrier from Russia did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

• On October 16, Trump said that Indian prime minister Modi had promised him to stop buying oil from Russia.
• The next day, Reuters reported, citing market sources, that two refineries in India had bought 4 million barrels of crude oil from Guyana from the American company Exxon Mobil for delivery in late 2025 and early 2026.