India emerges as key petrol supplier to Russia as refinery attacks disrupt fuel supplies

India has emerged as a key supplier of gasoline (petrol) to Russia amid a surge in Russian fuel imports triggered by Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries, ship tracking data showed.

Russia's seaborne gasoline imports surged to a record around 125,000 barrels per day (kbd) in August, equivalent to a projected 470,000 tonnes for the month, as repeated attacks on its refineries disrupted domestic fuel production, according to energy analytics firm Vortexa.

Indian refiners supplied as much as 1 million barrels of gasoline in the last two months, trade sources said. The supplies essentially came from Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, operated by Nayara Energy, which is half owned by Russia's Rosneft.