Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Even as India stopped exporting diesel to the European Union this month due to the European Union’s ban on fuel derived from Russian crude, it sent a record amount to West Africa, shipping data from Kpler and Vortexa showed.
The developments highlight that the EU policy, aimed at punishing Russia over its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is prompting a further reordering of intercontinental oil flows, forcing India’s oil refineries to seek new markets and disrupting Turkey’s lucrative trade in supplying fuel to the EU, Reuters reported.
“We think the most likely ‘re-shuffle’ would be for more Indian diesel to go into Africa and free up more Middle Eastern supply for Europe,” Clare Morris, analyst at Energy Aspects said. India has not sent any diesel to the EU so far in January, having exported a monthly average of 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, making it the third biggest diesel exporter to the bloc, according to Kpler.
The EU will allow fuel imports from oil refineries that can segregate Russian crude. Otherwise, a refinery must not import any Russian crude in the last 60 days prior to the bill of lading date of a cargo to continue fuel exports to the EU.
India’s diesel exports to West Africa were on track to reach an all-time high in December at around 155,000 bpd, according to Kpler, which showed January exports were on pace to reach 84,000 bpd.
