Back in December, the European Union barred almost any seaborne crude oil imports from Russia. It extended the prohibition to refined fuels two months later.

More than half of Russia's seaborne oil shipments were to European Union and Group of Seven nations before the bloc began to cut purchases in response to the nation's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

However, the rules didn’t prevent countries like India from snapping up cheap Russian crude, turning it into fuels like diesel, and shipping it back to Europe at a markup.

The Asian country is on track to become Europe’s largest supplier of refined fuels this month while simultaneously buying record amounts of Russian crude, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Kpler.

According to the data, Europe's refined fuel imports from India are set to surge above 360,000 barrets a day, edging just ahead of those of Saudi Arabia.

Russian crude oil arrivals to India are expected to surpass 2 million barrels a day in April, representing almost 44% of the nation's overall oil import.