Russia is preparing to receive a large shipment of gasoline from India, made from Russian oil, after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged key Russian oil refineries and led to a serious fuel shortage, the Financial Times reported.
A tanker carrying 42,000 tons of gasoline produced at an Indian refinery in the state of Gujarat is expected to arrive at the White Sea oil terminal in northern Russia on Sunday, according to analyst firm Kpler. This will likely be the largest single shipment of imported gasoline for Russia since the beginning of the current fuel crisis.
The refinery is owned by Indian company Nayara Energy, in which Russian state oil company Rosneft owns a 49% stake. More than 90% of the oil the refinery will process in 2026 is expected to be Russian, which, according to the Financial Times, highlights the unusual situation of Russia importing fuel produced from its own oil.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have reduced domestic refining capacity by about 40%, causing the country’s worst fuel crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gasoline sales were limited in a number of regions over the summer, and in some areas drivers waited hours or days to fill up. According to the Financial Times, the crisis has affected about 50 million Russians.
In late June, Russian authorities officially announced plans to import fuel. Kpler data shows that Indian gasoline was loaded onto the tanker Agni on June 18, and on July 6, the cargo was transferred to the Garnet off the coast of Egypt. As of July 22, Garnet was moving north past Norway.
In early July, "Reuters" reported that at least 60,000 tons of gasoline had been shipped from India to Russia, an amount equivalent to roughly 60% of the country's daily consumption. The Indian supplies are just one of several sources of foreign fuel that Moscow is turning to due to limited domestic capacity.