Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 27, 2026
3 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
India's diesel exports to West Africa hit record highs as the EU bans Russian crude-derived fuel, reshaping global oil flows and impacting Turkey's exports.
By Enes Tunagur and Seher Dareen
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India stopped exporting diesel to the European Union this month due to the European Union's ban on fuel derived from Russian crude and instead sent a record amount to West Africa, shipping data from Kpler and Vortexa showed, while Turkey's diesel exports to the EU slowed in recent months.
The developments highlight that the EU policy, aimed at punishing Russia over its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is prompting a further reordering of intercontinental oil flows, forcing India’s oil refineries to seek new markets and disrupting Turkey's lucrative trade in supplying fuel to the EU.
"We think the most likely 're-shuffle' would be for more Indian diesel to go into Africa and free up more Middle Eastern supply for Europe," Clare Morris, analyst at Energy Aspects said.
Russian crude made up 30% of India’s seaborne crude imports in 2025, while it represented 48% for Turkey’s seaborne crude imports last year, according to Kpler.
India has not sent any diesel to the EU so far in January, having exported a monthly average of 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2025, making it the third biggest diesel exporter to the bloc, according to Kpler.
Turkey sent around 45,000 barrels per day of diesel to the EU in January ahead of the EU ban that started on Jan. 21, down sharply from 87,000 bpd a month in 2025, Kpler data showed.
The EU will allow fuel imports from oil refineries that can segregate Russian crude. Otherwise, a refinery must not import any Russian crude in the last 60 days prior to the bill of lading date of a cargo to continue fuel exports to the EU.
In India, Reliance has been the biggest fuel exporter to the EU in recent years, while Turkey’s Star oil refinery, owned by Azerbaijan state-owned Socar, was the biggest Turkish exporter, according to Kpler. Star continued to import Russian crude in January.
Turkey’s biggest oil refinery, Tupras , stopped Russian crude imports in November at Izmir, one of its two major plants, according to Kpler, which showed the other plant, Izmit, continued Urals imports this month.
"Turkey isn't naturally very long diesel, it has been importing Russian diesel for its domestic market and selling locally-produced diesel into Europe. The new refining loophole ban should curb that activity," Morris said.
INDIAN DIESEL EXPORTS TO WEST AFRICA HIT ALL-TIME HIGH
India’s diesel exports to West Africa were on track to reach an all-time high in December at around 155,000 bpd, according to Kpler, which showed January exports were on pace to reach 84,000 bpd.
EU countries’ fuel imports from the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries reached a three-month high in January as the bloc diversified supply ahead of the ban, Kpler data showed.
(Reporting by Enes Tunagur and Seher Dareen in London, editing by Alex Lawler and Alexandra Hudson)
Diesel export refers to the sale and shipment of diesel fuel from one country to another, often influenced by market demand and international regulations.
The EU fuel ban is a regulatory measure implemented by the European Union to prohibit the import of fuels derived from Russian crude oil, aimed at reducing dependency on Russian energy sources.
A refinery is an industrial facility where crude oil is processed and transformed into various petroleum products, including diesel, gasoline, and other fuels.
Seaborne crude imports refer to crude oil brought into a country via maritime transport, which is then processed in refineries to produce fuels and other products.
Oil flows refer to the movement of crude oil and its derivatives across international borders, which are crucial for global energy supply and economic stability.
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