Netherlands Says Difficult to Track Product Origin of Indian Oil
The Netherlands says it is difficult to track the origin of petroleum products, raising questions about EU sanctions on Russian crude. The Dutch are the third-largest buyer of India's petroleum products, and Rotterdam is the EU's main entry point for them.
The Netherlands has said it is "difficult" for any country or organization to track the origin of petroleum products, casting doubt on how well European Union (EU) sanctions on Russian crude oil work. The comment came in emailed responses from Dutch officials on November 10, 2026, as India keeps buying Russian oil.
The Dutch position matters because the Netherlands is the third-largest buyer of India's petroleum products. It is also the gateway for fuel supplies into the EU through Rotterdam, Europe's largest port. India is the second-largest buyer of Russian crude exports after China.
What the Dutch government said
Pieter ten Bruggencate, spokesperson for climate and green growth minister Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer, said oil products are mixed in "multiple places," which makes their origin hard to trace. "Traders need to show no Russian oil is used in the refining process," he said. National customs organizations must monitor this, he added, but they cannot monitor all shipments.
He also pushed back on the idea that Dutch imports from India are largely Russian in origin. Given the EU ban, he said, Indian products made from Russian oil will likely go to other parts of the world, while the rest of India's output can still go to the EU. So it "isn't a given" that a large chunk originates from Russian oil, he said.
The Dutch embassy in New Delhi set out the rules. Since January 21, 2026, the EU has prohibited importing, buying or transferring into the bloc petroleum products refined in third countries from Russian-origin crude. "Importers must provide evidence of the crude oil's country of origin," the embassy said.
It added that some refineries process both Russian and non-Russian crude. Exports to the EU are not automatically banned just because a refinery handles Russian crude, the embassy said. EU importers must show that the specific products they bring in came from non-Russian crude, with documentation and verification.
The trade numbers
India exported $2.78 billion worth of petroleum products to the Netherlands in the April-August period, according to India's commerce and industry ministry. Russia supplied nearly half of India's overall oil import basket.
As of August, Russian oil supplies stood at $33.77 billion, about 45% of total oil imports of $77.56 billion for April-August, the ministry's data showed.
Asked directly about Russian crude refined in India and shipped to the EU through the Netherlands, foreign trade and development cooperation minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma said, "This is really a question also for the minister of foreign affairs." Jesper Dekker, a spokesperson for the foreign trade ministry, said the embassy had already answered. "These questions have been answered by our Embassy, so we will leave it at that," he said.
Expert reaction
C. Uday Bhaskar, director at the Society for Policy Studies, said the imports point to double standards in global energy markets. He noted that the United States is importing diesel from Russia while threatening India with penalties for trading hydrocarbons with Moscow.
"It also reveals the interconnected nature now of the global supply chain in energy, particularly after what has happened in Hormuz and West Asia," Bhaskar said.
