Nigerian Crude Gains as India Dumps Russia, Dangote Turns to US Oil

|By Adejumo Adekunle

India’s state refiners have pivoted sharply from Russian oil to Nigerian crude after US President Donald Trump threatened sanctions over their continued purchases from Moscow.

Industry sources told Reuters that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently purchased one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September 2025 delivery in a deal awarded to global trader Trafigura. The package also included one million barrels of Angola’s Girassol, one million barrels of US Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi Murban, and two million barrels of other Nigerian grades.

The purchases mark a significant shift in India’s sourcing strategy. Since July 2025, Indian refiners have secured millions of barrels from non-Russian suppliers, reversing a three-year trend of heavy reliance on Russian crude following the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine war. Bharat Petroleum and IOC together have snapped up additional non-Russian crude for delivery in September and October under US pressure.

Before now, Indian state refiners had been largely absent from Nigeria’s oil market since 2022, focusing instead on discounted Russian cargoes. That changed in late July 2025, when the threat of US sanctions forced them to halt Russian deals.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is leaning heavily on foreign oil—particularly from the United States. Data from commodities analytics firm Kpler shows that in July, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude accounted for around 60 percent of Dangote’s record 590,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) imports, with Nigerian crude making up the remaining 40 percent.

The refinery imported an average of 10 million barrels in July alone, despite a naira-for-crude supply agreement with the Federal Government launched in October 2024. Kpler noted that while WTI has been a major part of Dangote’s feedstock since March, July marked the first time US supply overtook Nigerian volumes—a shift attributed to domestic supply bottlenecks and competitive US pricing.