Indian oil refiners are still sourcing oil from Russian suppliers despite US President Donald Trump's penalty on India for doing so, besides 25 per cent tariffs on imports. The decision to procure oil from Russia was taken after carefully considering factors including price, grade of crude, inventories, logistics and other economic factors.
Besides, Russia hasn’t been sanctioned either by the US or EC, thus buying Moscow oil doesn’t tantamount to breach of any agreement, ANI reported citing sources. Indian Oil Manufacturing Companies (OMCs) have not bought Iranian or Venezuelan crude as these nations are actually facing US sanctions. Besides, sources cited by the news agency said the Indian OMCs have always complied with the price cap of $60 for Russian oil recommended by the US, adding that the EU recently recommended a price cap of $47.6 dollars for Russian crude, which will be enforced from September.
Source also told the news agency that India imports nearly 85 per cent crude oil to fulfil its demands and has strategically roped in partners to fulfil its energy needs while adhering to the international norms.
Why India continues to buy Russian oil
Russia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world—it makes about 9.5 million barrels of oil per day, which is almost 10% of what the whole world uses. It also exports a lot of this oil—about 4.5 million barrels of crude oil and 2.3 million barrels of refined oil products every day.
Back in March 2022, when there were concerns that Russian oil might be banned or removed from the global market (due to the Ukraine war), it caused a lot of panic. People feared that there wouldn’t be enough oil to go around. As a result, global oil prices shot up sharply, with Brent crude oil reaching 7 per barrel.
India to stop buying oil from Russia, says Trump
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said India may stop buying oil from Russia, calling it a ‘good step’. On being questioned about tariffs on India and his communication with PM Modi, Trump said, “I understand that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard, I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens.” (With inputs from ANI)
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