Today at 19:02
Russia’s largest energy companies have asked Indian refiners to increase gasoline supplies after Ukrainian drone strikes severely disrupted the country’s refining capacity, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, UATV English reports.
According to two sources, Russia’s Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil have approached both state-owned and private Indian refiners seeking additional gasoline shipments. If agreements are reached, deliveries would be arranged through commodity traders rather than directly between the companies.
Sources at three Indian state-owned refining companies confirmed they had received requests from Russian firms but said they currently have no surplus gasoline available for export.
Earlier this month, India’s Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Indian refiners do not directly supply fuel to Russia but acknowledged that Russian buyers could obtain Indian-origin fuel through traders.
One source told Reuters that any future deliveries are likely to be carried out through ship-to-ship transfers. The source added that Moscow could also begin seeking diesel imports if further Ukrainian strikes disable additional refining capacity, although current diesel inventories remain sufficient.
Reuters noted that India is the largest seaborne buyer of Russian crude oil, making Russia’s request for Indian gasoline an unusual reversal in the two countries’ energy trade and highlighting the scale of damage inflicted on Russia’s refining industry by Ukrainian attacks.
According to one source, at least one shipment of Indian gasoline has already departed for Russia, with additional cargoes expected in the coming weeks. The source estimated that nearly 40% of Russia’s refining capacity is unlikely to return to operation for at least two months, provided no further Ukrainian strikes occur.
The report comes as Russia faces what Reuters described as the most severe gasoline shortage in its modern history, while Moscow has simultaneously increased crude oil exports as damaged refineries reduce domestic processing capacity.
