Russia buys gasoline from India to tackle shortages
Russia has begun importing gasoline from India as it faces domestic fuel shortages, according to sources. The move marks a shift for Russia, a major oil exporter, which is now turning to India for refined products amid supply constraints.
Background
- **What happened**: Russia, one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters, is buying gasoline from India to address domestic fuel shortages — a reversal of typical trade flows.
- **Why this matters**: This highlights the effect of Western sanctions on Russia's energy sector after its invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions have restricted Russia's access to Western technology and refined petroleum, damaging its own refining capacity and causing fuel shortages at home.
- **The India connection**: India has become a major buyer of Russian crude oil (discounted due to sanctions), refines it into gasoline and diesel at its own plants, and then sells the finished products back to Russia and to Europe — a role that has made it a key intermediary in global energy markets.
- **Context**: Russia had long been a net exporter of refined fuels. The need to import gasoline from India signals serious strain in its domestic refining industry, which has struggled with drone strikes on refineries and equipment shortages due to sanctions.