US President Donald Trump has given India and the world the green signal to continue buying Russian crude oil till May 16.

Trump’s move has come as a great relief for India which bought 45 per cent of its crude oil imports from Russia in March.

We bought around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, which was considerably more than we had been buying in recent months.

India has been able to ensure there are no crude oil shortages during the last month because we received large quantities of Russian oil.

The permission to buy Russian oil ‘on water’ was scheduled to end on April 19. Trump had also given permission to buy Iranian crude till April 19. It’s not clear if he will extend the permission to buy Iranian oil.

India is the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude. China is the bigger buyer of Russian oil but gets a large chunk of that via a pipeline from Russia to China. Soon after India got the go-ahead several ships carrying Russian oil did about turns in midsea and headed to ports like Vadinar and Paradip.

However, several countries which are facing shortages are also competing to buy Russian oil and we are not getting the discounts which we once received. India started buying large quantities of Russian oil after the Ukraine-Russia war broke out and the US and the European countries stopped buying Russian oil.

In late 2025 Trump put pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil.

Iran on Saturday indicated it might keep the Strait of Hormuz closed after the US indicated it might not lift its blockade of ships passing through the key waterway.