US Sanctions Force India to Slash Russian Oil Imports

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil, and many subsidiaries to pressure Moscow over the war in Ukraine. The measures include a Nov. 21 deadline to complete cargo receipts and payments and explicit warnings about secondary sanctions, and they risk removing roughly 3.1 million barrels per day of Russian supply from international trade, already pushing oil prices higher. Indian refiners and banks, exposed to U.S. risks, are preparing to sharply curtail purchases from the sanctioned entities and are reviewing compliance to avoid secondary‑sanctions exposure. The sanctions also affect Russian upstream joint ventures in which Indian state firms hold stakes and have left more than $1 billion in dividends trapped in Russia, complicating efforts to replace lost cargoes. Executives warn flows from Russia to India could fall to near zero, forcing Reliance and state refiners to seek costlier alternatives and heightening diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Washington.