The renewed trade comes amid shifting export strategies by Indian refiners following new sanctions targeting refined products made from Russian crude, as well as direct restrictions on Nayara Energy’s Vadinar refinery.
The EU’s 18th sanctions package bans import of refined products made from Russian crude oil even if it is processed in a third country. The sanctions come into effect on January 21, 2026.
Global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler noted a significant shift in India’s refined product strategy with gasoil and diesel cargoes resuming to Sudan after a major hiatus.
Analysts and trade sources have been indicating that Indian and Turkish refiners will be forced to redirect diesel cargoes away from Europe, potentially flooding alternative markets such as Africa, Latin America or Southeast Asia.
“Indian-origin gasoil and diesel cargoes have resumed deliveries to Sudan after a hiatus of more than one year, marking a revival of a trade route last active in mid-2023. Since June this year, a total of 11 Medium Range (MR) tankers have either discharged or are expected to discharge in Port Sudan,” Kpler pointed out.
Prior to the resumption, the last observed full cargo shipment occurred aboard the MR D&K Abdul Razzak Khalid Zaid Al-Khalid, which loaded diesel at Jamnagar refinery on November 12, 2023, and discharged in Port Sudan on December 7, 2023, it added.
Shifting export strategies
The renewed trade comes amid shifting export strategies by Indian refiners following new sanctions targeting refined products made from Russian crude, as well as direct restrictions on Nayara Energy’s Vadinar refinery. Nayara has notably redirected clean petroleum product (CPP) exports toward Latin America, the Bahamas and Turkey—a marked departure from traditional destinations, Kpler explained.
Jamnagar’s renewed diesel flows to Sudan also signal a re-emergence of trade ties that were last active between November 2022 and June 2023, when six MR cargoes were sent along the same route, it added.
During January to September 2025, India’s diesel exports to Africa averaged at around 211.079 thousand barrels per day (kb/d) compared to 170.780 kb/d during the same period last year.
The EU’s 18th sanctions package is one of the “most comprehensive efforts yet” to choke off Russia’s hydrocarbon revenues. For instance, sanctions on Russian crude processed in a third country directly affects India and Turkey that have supplied up to 20 per cent of Europe’s diesel demand in recent months.
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Published on November 30, 2025
