Indian refiners bought record quantities of Russian crude oil, valued at more than $5 billion, in June 2026 with Moscow transforming into New Delhi’s strongest energy security hedge, particularly since the strait of Hormuz (SoH) disruptions.Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in its latest commentary on Russia’s earnings from its hydrocarbon trade pointed out that India imported Euro 4.5 billion with of crude oil in June 2026, a growth of 32 per cent M-o-M and 25 per cent Y-o-Y.‘India’s imports of Russian crude oil reached a record high, rising 34 per cent month-on-month. India purchased Euro 4.5 billion of Russian crude in June,” said the Finland-based policy think tank.Russian crude oil reached the highest level on record in June 2026. The Jamnagar refinery saw the largest month-on-month rise in imported volumes of Russian crude (150 per cent month-on-month increase), followed by the Paradip (126 per cent), Kochi (83 per cent) and Vadinar (45 per cent) refineries, it added.New Delhi was again the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels last month, importing a total of Euro 5.5 billion ($6.3 billion) of Russian hydrocarbons.Crude oil constituted 83 per cent of India’s purchases, totalling Euro 4.5 billion ($5.14 billion). Oil products ($558 million) and coal ($508 million) constituted the remainder of its monthly Russian imports.In June 2026, the average price of Russia’s Urals crude fell by 26 per cent month-on-month to $63.18 per barrel, still significantly higher than the EU and UK price cap of $44.1 per barrel, which took effect on 1 February 2026, CREA said.As tanker traffic transporting fossil fuels through the Strait of Hormuz has increased significantly in June, oil prices declined amid market reassessment of the likelihood of sustained disruptions to oil flows, it added.The price discount on Urals-grade crude oil relative to the global benchmark Brent remained flat at 28 per cent, or $24 per barrel last month.Kpler emphasises that Russian crude has become India’s strongest energy security hedge, particularly since the SoH disruptions.Russian barrels have enabled Indian refiners to maintain high refinery run rates, ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies, and avoid the disruptions experienced by several other Asian refining systems (excluding China), added the real time data and analytics provider.India imported around 2.7 million barrels per day (mb/d) of Russian crude oil in June 2026, which is the highest on record and accounted for more than half of New Delhi’s cumulative monthly imports.This growing importance is reflected in import trends, emphasised Sumit Ritolia, Kpler’s Kpler’s Lead Research Analyst for Refining & Modeling told businessline recently.“Russian crude imports rose to around 2.6 mbd in June, accounting for more than 50 per cent of India’s crude imports, and have been steadily increasing since March. July arrivals are also tracking at healthy levels and could match or even exceed June’s volumes,” he added.Published on July 19, 2026