“Russia has offered to increase supply of crude oil and natural gas to India even as the two countries agreed to further enhance overall bilateral ties.”

“A Russian readout of the First Deputy Prime Minister's engagements in New Delhi said special attention was accorded to bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector. 'Denis Manturov confirmed that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas to the Indian market,' it said.”

“Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, that handles roughly 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).”

“An analysis by The Hindu of data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that India imported $1.98 billion worth of crude oil from Russia in January 2026, the month before India and the U.S. issued a joint statement about an interim trade agreement between the two countries.”

“With this, Russia’s share in Indian oil imports fell to 19.3% in January 2026, the lowest since December 2022. For context, Russia’s share was 27.5% two months earlier, and 33% in May 2025.”

“On February 7, when the U.S. and India announced the interim agreement, the statement notably did not have any mention of India’s imports of Russian oil.”

“Since the onset of the U.S-Israel war with Iran that began on February 28, India has been steadily increasing its purchase of crude oil from Russia.”