India’s crude oil imports from the US during August are expected to hit their lowest levels since December 2024 as refinery economics pushes for more medium-to-high sour crude, while choking of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) and the Bab-el-Mandeb (BeM) pushed up logistics costs.
Sources said Indian refiners have been contacting lower supplies from the US, which is a light sweet crude grade that produces more petrol and naphtha. Sweet crude forms a small part of the overall diet. However, refineries are configured for medium-to-high sour grades such as Ural, Murban, Basrah, etc. Another issue is higher travel time of 40-45 days which adds to freight.
Kpler opined that US crude exports may be running high, but India is telling a very different story. Amid all the fanfare around strong US crude exports and expectations of more US barrels moving into Asia, India presents an interesting contrast.
Refining Diet
Kpler data suggests India’s US crude imports are on track to fall to their lowest level since December 2024 in the range of 70,000-80,000 barrels per day (b/d).
Sumit Ritolia, Kpler’s Lead Research Analyst for Refining & Modeling noted that Washington’s crude oil supply has become increasingly light, which does not always fit naturally into the refining diet of India’s complex refining system.
“At the same time, with disruptions to higher-API Middle Eastern Gulf barrels, the share and importance of medium-grade crude in India’s import slate has increased. This further limits the economics of adding incremental light US barrels,” he explained.
There is also a freight element, said Ritolia, adding that longer voyages, elevated freight costs and competition from East Asian refiners for US barrels can make the arbitrage into India less compelling, particularly when refiners are looking to optimise their crude slate around medium grades.
“So, while aggregate US crude exports may look strong, high exports do not necessarily mean more barrels into every Asian market,” he emphasized.
India’s Equation
For India, the equation remains refinery specific — crude quality, yields, freight and competing alternatives ultimately matter more than the headline availability of US crude, Ritolia pointed out.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, India’s crude oil imports from the United States have been on the lower side since the beginning of the current calendar year.
Data shows that New Delhi cumulatively imported around 759 thousand b/d (kb/d) of crude oil from Washington during January to May 2026, which is the second lowest on record. Prior to this, the lowest was recorded during January-May 2018 at around 455 kb/d. The US EIA has data only till May 2026.
For comparison, the highest volume imported from the US by India during the first five months of a calendar year was reported in 2025 at roughly 1,561 kb/d and during the Covid-impacted 2022 at around 1,531 kb/d.
Published on August 11, 2026
