India is making a hard pivot back to Russian oil, ramping up purchases, as the Middle East war turns into a direct threat to global energy supplies. In the week following Washington’s waiver, Indian refiners snapped up 30 million barrels of Russian crude. After US pressure forced India to cut Russian purchases last year, Moscow crude fell to around 20 per cent of imports in February or one million barrels. But now Indian imports have nearly doubled to about 1.8 million barrels per day in March, and could rise to 2.0 to 2.2 million barrels per day, close to last year’s peak levels. Now, though, Trump has allowed more countries to be able to resume purchases of Russian oil and analysts say competition from Japan and South Korea for Russian crude could drive prices to $150 a barrel or higher.

Source: The Telegraph March 19, 2026 02:57 UTC