India’s Russian crude binge to continue after Trump waives new sanctions law

India is expected to keep importing Russian crude at close to current levels after U.S. President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs mandated by a new law on major buyers of Russian oil, analysts said.

Mr. Trump issued an executive order late on Friday (October 16, 2026) waiving the "sanctions, restrictions, and duties" under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a day before a 30-day deadline for enforcement expired. He signed the law on September 18.

The law authorised tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest importers of Russian crude and gas, and sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet of tankers. The waiver is not specific to India and could also benefit China. The order lets the administration reconsider it later.

India is the largest importer of Russian seaborne crude, averaging 1.8 million barrels per day this year, ahead of China at 1.2 million, ship tracking data showed. Italy, Turkiye and the Netherlands completed the top five.

India took about 1.82 million bpd of Russian crude in September against about 1.49 million for China. Kpler expects October imports to hold at around 1.8-1.9 million bpd. Volumes are well below mid-year highs. Indian imports peaked at 2.6 million bpd in June and 2.57 million bpd in July.

With the waiver, refiners are likely to continue buying Russian crude, analysts said.

Russian crude emerged as a bargain for Indian refiners after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Western sanctions and prompted many buyers to shun its oil. The European Union banned seaborne imports of Russian crude, while the G7 imposed a price cap aimed at curbing Moscow's oil revenues without disrupting global supplies.

With traditional buyers retreating, Russia redirected cargoes to Asia at steep discounts to benchmark Brent crude, at times approaching USD 40 a barrel for its Urals grade in early 2023.

India seized the opportunity, transforming its crude sourcing in a matter of months. Russian oil accounted for around 2% or less of India's imports before the war, but refiners rapidly increased purchases as discounted cargoes improved processing economics and helped contain the cost of imported energy.

Russia went on to become India's largest crude supplier, at times accounting for around 40-50% of the country's total imports.

The shift also created a lucrative export stream for Indian refiners, which processed Russian crude into fuels such as diesel for domestic consumption and overseas markets. Although purchases have fluctuated with prices, supply availability and geopolitical pressures, the rapid rise of Russian oil has fundamentally reshaped India's crude import mix, analysts said.

The discounts made Russian oil an attractive alternative to supplies from West Asia and other producers, they said, adding that Russia made up for volumes that were lost due to the Iran war disrupting supplies earlier this year.

In September 2026, the price discount on Urals-grade crude oil relative to the global benchmark Brent averaged $23 per barrel, analysts said.

The latest sanctions waiver follows a Treasury decision on October 9 to allow the sale and import of Russian diesel into the global market, including the U.S., until April 7, 2027. The diesel waiver made enforcement of the new law unlikely, analysts said.