Australia has unknowingly helped funnel close to $1 billion into refineries processing Russian crude oil, according to new sector analysis revealing the extent to which imported fuel is tied to Moscow’s war economy.
Data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows that between January and August 2025, Australia imported approximately $980 million worth of fuel refined in China using Russian crude. The Jieyang, Dalian and Qingdao Huangdao refineries were identified as major suppliers.
These operations add to several large Indian refineries — most notably the Jamnagar mega-plant — which have supplied more than $4.6 billion in fuel containing Russian oil to Australia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
CREA analyst Vaibhav Raghunandan said Australia must urgently ban all fuel processed from Russian feedstock. “Of all the countries currently sanctioning Russia, Australia is the single biggest market for diesel and jet fuel from these refineries,” he said.
The analysis indicates Australia receives 10 per cent of all Russian-linked refined fuel exported by the identified Indian and Chinese plants, meaning Australian purchases could exceed twice the $1.5 billion that taxpayers have contributed in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Despite sanctions targeting Russian oil, loopholes allow crude to be refined in third countries and legally exported as non-Russian fuel. The EU and UK recently closed that loophole, but Australia has not.
Almost two-thirds of Chinese fuel imports to Australia this year — worth $635 million — originated from PetroChina’s Jieyang refinery, where Russian crude accounted for around 4 per cent of inputs.
New shipments continue to arrive. The Singapore-flagged Proteus Bohemia is due in Sydney with 78,000 tonnes of fuel from India’s Jamnagar refinery, while another tanker, the Hafnia Lillesand, carrying nearly 100,000 tonnes of Russian-linked fuel from Jamnagar, is expected in Perth.
CREA argues a ban would not significantly affect supply or pump prices, as only around 8 per cent of all Australian refined fuel imports come from these refineries.
“It would, however, eliminate a key market for them,” Raghunandan said. “That could force Russia to offer deeper discounts, further reducing its revenue.”
Business figure Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations have repeatedly urged Canberra to close the loophole. Advocates argue that Australian consumers should not unknowingly contribute to financing Vladimir Putin’s war.
