India Has Been 'Very Very' Good: Trump After Refiners Halt Russian Oil Imports

Two weeks earlier, Trump reiterated that India will not be buying oil from Russia, saying that New Delhi has already 'de-escalated' and 'more or less stopped' its oil purchases.

Indian refiners have not placed any new orders for Russian oil after the US last week slapped sanctions on Moscow's top two crude exporters, as they assess the changed scenario to ensure not faulting with any international commitments.

Purchase of Russian oil, per se, has not been sanctioned, and it's only the Russian entities that have been blacklisted. This means that Russian crude, which is processed in refineries to make fuels like petrol and diesel, offered by any non-sanctioned entity could be considered.

Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has suspended purchases of Russian crude oil. The private refiner, a joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal's Mittal Energy Investments, said it will continue to review its position and comply with government policy and applicable laws.

HMEL, which operates a nine million tonnes a year oil refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab, is the first Indian firm to officially announce suspension of purchase of Russian crude after the US sanctioned two of Moscow's biggest oil firms. The US last week imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil in a bid to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine.

Russia currently supplies nearly a third of India's crude imports, averaging around 1.7 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2025, of which approximately 1.2 mbd came directly from Rosneft and Lukoil. Most of these volumes were bought by private refiners, Reliance Industries Ltd and Nayara Energy, with smaller allocations to state-owned refiners, including HMEL.