U.S. sanctions on Russia should not affect Moscow's oil trade with India, Pavel Sorokin, Russia's first deputy energy minister, said on Tuesday, adding that it was too early to assess the impact of the latest restrictions.

India imported 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Russia—up 13 percent from December 2024—showed data from commodity market analytics firm Kpler. Russia supplied 1.48 million bpd of crude oil to India in December.

Indian Oil is buying Russian crude oil cargoes without the involvement of sanctioned entities and expects gasoline demand to grow 6-7% in the fiscal year 2026, the company's chairman said on Tuesday.