India has been importing a lot more U.S. crude oil as the two negotiate trade relations following President Donald Trump’s launch of a tariff offensive against countries running a surplus with the United States.
“I see push and pull factors for India’s imports of US crude in the months ahead,” the head of Vortexa’s Asia Pacific analysis, Ivan Mathews, told news outlet Invezz.
In April, India imported 326,000 barrels of U.S. crude daily, which represented a solid 34% increase from March, Vortexa data cited by media showed. The monthly growth, however, was weaker than the rate booked in March. In that month, India’s imports of U.S. crude rose by a whopping 67% from February to 244,000 barrels daily. The ramp-up, besides a means of appeasing President Trump, is also a way to diversify supply of the commodity, according to analysts.
Indeed, India is likely to significantly increase its energy purchases from the U.S., India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in February in Washington after a meeting between President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Indeed, last month, Bloomberg cited data from Kpler showing that as many as 11.2 million barrels of U.S. crude were en route to India, scheduled to arrive in June. This would be the highest U.S. crude volume arriving in India since August 2024.
India’s state-owned refining giants are leading the higher purchases of U.S. crude, as India hopes to have tariffs lowered if it buys more American energy products.
State Indian refiners, including Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum, have bought at tenders last month at least 6 million barrels of crude from the U.S. due to arrive in India in June, Bloomberg calculations showed.
“There is also a geopolitical element, where Asian buyers may seek more WTI as a negotiating tool with the US to reduce the reciprocal tariffs, per what we are observing with Indonesia and India,” June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities, told Bloomberg.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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