India Shifts To Russian Oil & Coal To Bolster Energy Supplies After U.S-Iran War Depletes Reserves

India has shifted to Russian oil and coal to boost its energy supplies after its reserves were depleted significantly due to a shortage resulting from the Iran-US war.

The world’s third-largest oil importer is set to receive 2.55 million barrels per day of Russian crude this month, an increase from the 2.13 million barrels per day in May.

Moscow’s share in New Delhi’s total crude oil imports of 5.29 barrels per day in June would be under 50%, an increase from the 23% in the 3 months before the US-Iran war began.

India shifted to Russian crude after the U.S waived sanctions against purchasing Russian oil as part of an effort to boost oil supply after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, leaving hundreds of vessels stuck on either side.

Though the temporary waiver ended on June 17.2026, and the U.S did not extend it, India has not cut Russian oil imports.

India’s return to Gulf suppliers will depend on whether the situation in the Middle East remains stable in the days to come.

Oil imports from Saudi Arabia stood at 349,000 bpd in June, down from 832,000 bpd in the three months before the start of the war.

India will also import 3.16 million metric tons of all grades of coal from Russia in June.

This month, Russia will overtake Australia to become the second-biggest coal supplier to India and the world’s second-biggest importer, just behind China.

Russia is also in competition with China for supplying metallurgical coal to India, which is boosting steel production.

India’s annual steel output is expected ​to increase from 168 ⁠million tons to 400 million tons by 2035, with 25 million tons of capacity being added in 2026.

India has massive coal reserves, but that is only used for generating electricity, while the metallurgical coal output is only 6% of the total, and what is produced is of lower quality than imports from Australia, Russia and other suppliers like the U.S and Mozambique.

This means that India will further increase imports of metallurgical coal and seek diverse suppliers to reduce dependence on Australia alone.