INDIA DIVERSIFIES ENERGY

S&P Global - February 16, 2026 - India will continue to diversify its crude oil imports to safeguard energy security and maintain strategic autonomy, while the nation's refiners will retain full flexibility to make purchasing decisions aligned with their commercial interests, two government ministers said.

"Where energy issues are concerned, this is a complex market, oil companies in India -- as in Europe and probably in other parts of the world -- look at availability, cost and risks, and take the decisions that they feel is in their best interests," said S. Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, at the Munich Security Conference held Feb. 13-15.

"We are very much wedded to strategic autonomy because it is very much a part of our history and our evolution. And it is something which is very deep, it is something which cuts across the political spectrum as well," Jaishankar said.

India's crude oil purchases underwent a transformative change in 2026, with significantly reduced volumes of Russian Urals and incremental growth in Middle East Gulf barrels comprising its portfolio as of January.

Total Russian exports to India were 436,000 b/d in January, down from 1.5 million b/d a year earlier, CAS data show. Meanwhile, US exports rose to 235,000 b/d in January from 141,000 b/d in January 2025, according to CAS.

"The buying of crude oil or LNG, LPG from the US is in India's own strategic interests, as we diversify our sources," Piyush Goyal, India's trade minister, told local media in New Delhi. "But the decisions are taken by the buyers, by the companies themselves."

Energy costs, inflation

Since India imports 80%-85% of its crude oil requirements, the country must plan carefully, as energy costs can have a substantial effect on inflation, according to a senior foreign ministry official.

"The global economy has faced significant uncertainties, which have had a major impact on the stability of global energy markets," the foreign ministry official said.

"India certainly -- and a lot of countries around the world, if not every country -- have a shared and common interest in ensuring stable energy prices and secure supplies," the official said. "India is not just one of the largest consumers of energy; it also plays an important role as a stabilizing factor in global energy markets. That is one reason why we import energy from multiple sources."

The key drivers of India's energy policy are adequate availability, fair pricing and reliability of supply, according to an oil ministry official.

"India imports crude oil from as many as 41 countries. We are neither dependent on any single source for this, nor do we intend to be," the oil ministry official said. "It is natural for the mix of sources to vary from time to time, depending on objective market conditions. Our approach is to maintain multiple sources of supply and diversify them as appropriate to ensure stability. The more diversified we are in this area, the more secure we are."

An Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said Feb. 5 that the country remains open to importing crude oil from Venezuela if it is commercially viable, as India prioritizes diversifying its energy sources to meet the needs of its 1.4 billion people.

India imported about 300,000 b/d of Venezuelan-origin crude oil in 2019, according to CAS. Flows declined to 25 million barrels in 2024. In 2025, a total of five VLCCs -- one per month -- discharged crude at the port of Sikka, with the last discharge occurring in May 2025, CAS data show.

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