Visualizing India’s Imports of Crude Oil by Country
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- India’s imports of Russian crude oil have risen from less than 1% of total imports before the war in Ukraine to 37% in 2024.
- Iraq stands as the second-largest supplier, at 21% of the total.
- The U.S. drives just 9% of India’s crude imports.
Today, India faces the steepest U.S. tariffs globally, largely due to its oil trade with Russia.
Last year, India’s imports of Russian crude surpassed 1.7 million barrels of crude oil per day, making it one of Russia’s biggest buyers. Going further, Reliance Industries, the country’s largest conglomerate by market cap, buys about a third of this total.
This graphic shows India’s top suppliers of crude oil by country, based on data from the Energy Institute.
India’s Imports in the Crosshairs
Below, we show how Russia, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia shipped the highest volume of crude oil to India in 2024:
| Country / Region | Crude Oil Imports Thousand b/d in 2024 |
|---|---|
 Russia |
1,754 |
 Iraq |
1,005 |
 Saudi Arabia |
622 |
 UAE |
435 |
 U.S. |
158 |
 Kuwait |
120 |
 Mexico |
62 |
 Canada |
8 |
 West Africa |
265 |
 S. & Central America |
178 |
 Other Middle East |
68 |
 Europe |
46 |
| North Africa |
36 |
 Asia Pacific |
28 |
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India’s imports of its crude oil have surged, causing tensions with the U.S. to escalate.
On August 27, a 50% tariff was imposed on Indian exports to America, including a 25% penalty for importing Russian crude oil. (This penalty is set to come into effect 21 days after August 27). Today, India stands as one of Russia’s biggest importers of crude, driven by its favorable prices.
Ranking in second is Iraq, of which India buys about 30% of its oil exports, the second largest after China.
As we can see, India’s imports of American crude oil were 158,000 barrels per day in 2024, or less than a tenth of the total. However, major Indian refiners recently announced major purchases to help narrow the trade deficit.
Indian Oil Corp, for instance, bought five million barrels of U.S. crude in August, while Reliance Industries recently purchased two million barrels amid mounting pressures.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the world’s largest oil producers.