Turkey's Diesel Imports from India Hit Record as Russian Supply Falls to 20% Share

Turkey bought a record volume of diesel from India in August 2026, as its long-standing dependence on Russian supply unwound in a matter of months. According to Aaj Tak, citing tanker-tracking data, Indian diesel deliveries to Turkey exceeded 120,000 barrels per day, the highest level in records going back to 2017.

Russian share falls from 85% to 20%

Russia has been Turkey's principal diesel supplier for years. At the start of 2026, Turkey was taking more than 200,000 barrels per day of Russian diesel. By August, that flow had fallen to about 80,000 barrels per day, roughly a quarter of the earlier level.

In share terms the shift is sharper. Russia accounted for about 85% of Turkey's total diesel imports in 2025. In August 2026 its share was down to 20%. Aaj Tak attributes the reversal to tightening sanctions pressure on Russia, strain on Middle East shipping routes and a tight global products market. Turkey had to replace the missing barrels quickly, and volumes from the United States rose alongside Indian cargoes.

Two agencies, two numbers

India emerged as the main alternative supplier, although the size of the flow depends on whose data is used.

• Kpler puts Indian diesel exports to Turkey at more than 120,000 barrels per day in August 2026, the largest monthly figure in its series since 2017.
• Energy Aspects estimates the same flow at about 74,000 barrels per day.
• Both agree on the direction of travel: according to Energy Aspects, it was India's largest monthly diesel supply to Turkey since August 2022.

The two estimates are not reconciled in the reporting, and the spread between them is material for anyone modelling the route. At the upper figure, India replaces most of the Russian volume Turkey lost; at the lower figure, it covers well under half, leaving more room for US and other sellers.

Refining capacity and the Russian crude link

India operates one of the largest refining systems in the world. It imports crude in bulk, processes it into diesel, gasoline and other petroleum products, consumes part of the output domestically and exports the balance. That export-oriented capacity is what allows Indian refiners to respond quickly when a buyer such as Turkey needs replacement barrels.

India has also sharply increased its crude purchases from Russia in recent years. Russian crude is refined in India, and the resulting diesel is sold on to buyers including Turkey. Once it leaves the refinery, diesel becomes a separate global commodity that can be shipped wherever demand and price direct it. On that basis, Indian buying of Russian crude and Indian diesel sales to Turkey are treated as two parts of the same global fuel market.

What the shift means for the market

For Turkish importers, the change is primarily one of cost and logistics rather than availability: the barrels are there, but they travel further and carry a refining margin earned in India rather than Russia. For Indian refiners, a large new outlet in the eastern Mediterranean adds to an export book already supported by a tight global products market. For Russian exporters, losing a customer that took roughly 85% of its diesel imports from them last year removes one of the shortest and cheapest routes to a large buyer, leaving longer voyages and deeper discounts as the alternative.