India has caved to US demands to stop buying Russian oil, allegedly. The White House reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to halting purchases, but India’s government has not confirmed these claims or made any public declaration.
Indian Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, confirmed India’s commitment to purchase more oil from the US, which will now supply the nation with 10% of all liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports. This marks the first structured contract for US LPG in India. State-owned oil companies have signed a short 1-year deal to import 2.2 million tonnes of LPG from the Gulf Coast.
The deal is mutually beneficial. Hardeep Singh Puri worded the agreement as almost a favor to the US. India does not produce enough petroleum to meet domestic needs and relies heavily on imports. LPG Mont Belvieu is up to 20% cheaper from the US than Saudi Arabia or the UAE. At $673/MT, the US is offering a bargain compared to global prices. LPG can be highly volatile, and many view this as a sign of energy stability from the US. India will still diversify its imports to avoid complete US dependency.
A historic first!
One of the largest and the world’s fastest growing LPG market opens up to the United States.
In our endeavour to provide secure affordable supplies of LPG to the people of India, we have been diversifying our LPG sourcing.
In a significant development,…
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) November 17, 2025
The US will begin to sanction Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft on November 21, 2025. Reliance Industries and other major state-run Indian companies have sharply increased their purchases of Russian oil in the weeks leading up to sanctions.
US-India trade has been volatile since August, when President Trump placed a 50% tariff on Indian goods, downplaying the nation’s role as a trade partner, and chalking up half of the reciprocal tariff price to India’s reliance on Russian energy. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has attempted to smooth over relations, agreeing to increase US imports in the coming years. “And being close friends, natural partners, our energy security goals will have a very high element of US involvement,” the Indian minister had said.
The BRICS member has been playing a delicate balancing act with the US and Russia since 2022. Perhaps no other nation has profited more from this war in the short term than India, which has used its neutrality to its advantage. It remains to be seen whether India will permanently halt Russian gas imports, but for now, the US is appeased with the current deal.
