This decrease was attributed to a 25 per cent month-on-month drop in imports by private sector refiners, including Reliance Industries and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy. In July, India imported 1.81 million barrels per day (mbd) of Russian crude, down from 1.93 mbd in the previous month, which had represented 42 per cent of India's total crude oil imports.

Serena Huang, an analyst at Vortexa, remarked that India's imports of Russian crude in July had remained quite strong due to a healthy import appetite from refiners. She also indicated that inbound shipments might decline further in August. Huang explained that Russian crude exports had decreased to 2.93 mbd in July, reflecting a 15 per cent month-on-month reduction, as Russia increased domestic refinery runs to address summer demand.

The lower exports from Russia in July could potentially lead to decreased Indian imports in August, given that it takes approximately a month for a tanker from a Russian port to reach India. Imports of Russian-refined products also dropped by 7 per cent month-on-month in July to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd). Huang pointed out that India's imports of Russian products had decreased in July compared to June, with more supplies being directed towards Turkey, the Middle East, and Malaysia.

In the previous month, China imported 276,000 bpd and Europe 515,000 bpd of refined products from Russia, nearly matching June's figures. Seaborne Russian crude imports by China fell by 8 per cent to 1.09 mbd, while imports by Europe rose by 20 per cent to 0.47 mbd during the same period.

In contrast, India's crude imports from Saudi Arabia rose by about one-third over the previous month to 606,000 bpd in July. Consequently, Saudi Arabia's share in India's overall crude shipments increased to 13.5 per cent last month from 10 per cent in June, while Iraq's share decreased to 13.5 per cent from 17.5 per cent.