India imported a 3rd extra oil in February 2026 than it did a 12 months earlier. Representational file picture.
| Photograph Credit score: PTI
India entered the vitality disaster introduced on by the Iran conflict significantly prone to disruptions in West Asia, the newest authorities information reveals. Not solely was India importing practically 91% of its crude oil necessities as of February 2026, a historic excessive, however greater than 54% of those imports got here from West Asian international locations — their second-highest share in practically 3.5 years.
The evaluation by The Hindu of information launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade reveals that the quantity of India’s complete oil imports in February 2026 elevated practically 33% to 205.3 lakh tonnes over February final 12 months.
Additionally learn | As West Asia conflict threatens gasoline provide, remembering a gasoline grid India by no means constructed
That’s, India imported a 3rd extra oil in February 2026 than it did a 12 months earlier.
Additional, in keeping with information with the Ministry of Petroleum and Pure Gasoline, India’s oil imports accounted for 90.8% of the full oil processed by Indian refineries in February 2026, up from an already historically-high 90.2% within the first half of 2025-26.
Sourcing from West Asia
Not solely has India’s dependence on oil imports risen, nevertheless it has additionally just lately elevated its dependence on the West Asian area. This has come because it had, till the outbreak of the conflict in West Asia, sought to cut back Russian oil imports in step with calls for from the U.S.
Russia’s share within the quantity of oil India imports rose to 26.5% in February 2026, however was nonetheless considerably decrease than the height of 40.2% it had reached in Might final 12 months.
However, the share of oil imports from India’s West Asian sources — Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar — rose to a mixed 54.4% in February 2026. Other than December 2025, when this determine hit 56.8%, this was their highest share since September 2022.
Nonetheless, these sources at the moment are constrained as a result of conflict, with officers within the Ministry of Commerce and Trade confirming to The Hindu that India’s oil imports from Russia have elevated “massive time” in March 2026, however this time with out the good thing about the low cost Russia was earlier offering.
The official information on India’s oil imports in March shall be launched in early Might.
Costly oil
The information reveals that not solely was India importing a big amount of oil within the lead as much as the U.S.-Israel conflict on Iran, however that it was additionally benefiting from a crash in costs. The value of the Indian basket of crude oil in February 2026 stood at $69 per barrel. Priced had averaged about $78 within the earlier monetary 12 months.
The Indian basket includes a weighted common of costs of various grades of oil in Oman and Dubai, together with the worth of Brent.
As a result of conflict in West Asia, this determine shot as much as $113.5 per barrel in March 2026, and has additional elevated to just about $126 as of April 7, 2026.
Revealed – April 07, 2026 03:13 pm IST
