India will stop buying Russian oil, says Trump; crude prices jump

Oil prices gained with the Brent crude increasing by $0.48, or 0.78%, reaching $62.39 per barrel as of 02:15am GMT on Thursday (October 16, 2025) on reports India would stop purchases of Russian barrels, a move that could squeeze global supply. 

WTI crude oil prices rose by $0.49, or 0.84%, closing at $58.76 per barrel.

Both benchmarks showed moderate gains.

Oil prices have risen from a five-month low after US President Donald Trump said Indian PM Narendra Modi had vowed to halt purchases of Russian barrels, a move that could squeeze global supply. 

Trump’s claim didn’t give an exact timeline for India’s curtailment, and there hasn’t yet been an official confirmation from New Delhi.

India, along with neighbour China, has made the most of discounted Russian supplies accessible under a Group of Seven price cap mechanism that was designed to keep oil flowing while limiting Moscow’s access to funds for its war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

Senior US officials have accused Indian businesses of profiteering and the purchases have been a main sticking point as New Delhi seeks to fast-track trade talks. Its trade secretary on Wednesday said his nation has the capacity to purchase an additional $15 billion of oil from the US.

India has been buying about three times as much oil from Russia as from the US in recent months, and would need to source alternatives from Middle Eastern nations to completely halt those purchases, Mukesh Sahdev, founder and chief executive officer of analysis firm Xanalysts in Sydney told Bloomberg. 

Crude has fallen this month as increased trade tensions between the US and China raised concerns about demand in the two biggest crude consumers, and as major trading houses said a long-anticipated oversupply is already starting to emerge.

An industry report indicated US inventories jumped by 7.4 million barrels last week. That would be the biggest increase since July if confirmed by official data due later Thursday, as per Bloomberg.