After the US issued a temporary waiver allowing India to import Russian oil, Indian firms snapped up the entire supply available on the spot market in under a week, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Sources familiar with the deals said the purchases total around 30 million barrels, matching India’s February imports of Russian crude, which averaged just under 1.1 million barrels per day.
Indian buying has spiked amid Middle East supply disruptions, with Iranian strikes on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation against US-Israeli attacks, blocking Saudi and Iraqi oil from leaving the Gulf for more than a week.
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Much of the Russian oil was already on tankers but remained without buyers.
Indian companies acted fast to replenish their stocks, buying Russian barrels at premiums of $2 to $8 above the benchmark Brent price, Bloomberg’s sources said.
Brent crude has remained above $85 per barrel since last Friday, briefly spiking toward $120 on Monday morning before dropping sharply.
In recent months and prior to the Middle East conflict, Russian crude in Asia had been trading at discounts of over $10 per barrel to Brent.
The US government last week temporarily eased sanctions to allow India to buy Russian oil stranded at sea.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that the “deliberate short-term measure,” lasting 30 days, would “not provide significant financial benefit” to Moscow.
“This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” he said.
Russian oil makes up an estimated 20 percent of India’s total imports. The Kremlin on Friday said that the war in Iran had pushed up demand for Russian oil and gas significantly.
“We are seeing a significant increase in demand for Russian energy resources in connection with the war in Iran,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
It was also reported on Monday that Washington was mulling suspending or easing sanctions on Russia in order to lift pressure on the global energy market amid the crisis.
In an attempt to pressure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, US President Donald Trump last year imposed sanctions on Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft.