Procuring crude oil from Russia has taken center stage in the global economy, with Trump imposing tariffs on several countries. The US wants to contain the Russian economy as it imposed sanctions in February 2022 for invading Ukraine. The White House believes that if the Putin administration gets more business through trade, it would procure more weapons.

While the sanctions are still in place, several countries have been procuring crude oil from Russia for three years. Not only did they buy it at discounted prices, but they also saved billions in foreign exchange rates. This helped both the buyer and seller as it was a win-win situation, except for the US and Ukraine.

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List of Countries That Are Buying the Highest Crude Oil From Russia

Chevron oil rig worker
Source: Chevron

Right now, China is the single largest buyer of Russian oil, followed closely by India. China has remained consistently at the top since 2022 despite the sanctions. The Communist country is relentlessly buying both pipeline (ESPO) and seaborne crude. The second largest buyer of oil is India, and procurement grew post-sanctions. China was buying 1.7 million barrels per day, making it the top buyer.

India became a major purchaser of discounted Urals crude shipped by sea and brought it at cheaper prices. In addition, India also saved close to $7 billion in foreign exchange rates as the transactions were settled in local currencies. India purchased over 1.5 million barrels per day, making it the second largest buyer. Sanctions do not allow trading in the US dollar; therefore, both countries resorted to their national currencies. The Chinese yuan, Russian ruble, and Indian rupee were used for oil procurement from Russia.

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Thirdly, Turkey is also among the top buyers of Russian oil, but is far behind in volume compared to China and India. Also, small refiners from Asia and the Middle East have been buying oil from Russia, but the procurement remains limited.

  • Oil
  • Russia