NEW DELHI: There is no problem in making payment for Russian oil and any drop in imports is because of pricing as well as market conditions as Indian refiners look for best deals, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.
“It is a pure function of the price at which our refineries will buy… India’s leadership has only one requirement that the Indian consumer gets the energy at the most economical price, without disruption,” the minister said.
Puri pointed out that India buys 1.5 million barrels per day of Russian oil on an average. Not How can so much Russian oil flow into India if there was payment problem.
For good measure, Puri added that new oil producers in other regions are willing to offer better discounts than Russia but declined to elaborate or identify the suppliers. “If they (Russia) don’t offer us (good) discount why would we buy from them?”
Puri’s statement comes days after western media reports said five ships carrying Sokol, a light sweet oil produced in Russia’s Far East, to India recently were diverted to other destination due to payment issues faced by the recipient Indian refiners. Some of the ships carrying the said cargos were sanctioned by the US for flouting the G7 price cap of $60 per barrel for Russian oil.
Indian refiners buy Russian crude on ‘delivered basis’ wherein the sellers are responsible for arranging vessels, insurance and satisfying the limited banking channels handling payments to Russia there is no breach of the western price cap.
Since the Ukraine war began in 2022, Russia has become India’s second biggest oil supplier due to hefty discounts as western buyers shunned those barrels. The discounts have come down to single digit, which keep varying according to benchmark oil prices and market conditions, from as much as $20 or so soon after the conflict broke out.
“It is a pure function of the price at which our refineries will buy… India’s leadership has only one requirement that the Indian consumer gets the energy at the most economical price, without disruption,” the minister said.
Puri pointed out that India buys 1.5 million barrels per day of Russian oil on an average. Not How can so much Russian oil flow into India if there was payment problem.
For good measure, Puri added that new oil producers in other regions are willing to offer better discounts than Russia but declined to elaborate or identify the suppliers. “If they (Russia) don’t offer us (good) discount why would we buy from them?”
Puri’s statement comes days after western media reports said five ships carrying Sokol, a light sweet oil produced in Russia’s Far East, to India recently were diverted to other destination due to payment issues faced by the recipient Indian refiners. Some of the ships carrying the said cargos were sanctioned by the US for flouting the G7 price cap of $60 per barrel for Russian oil.
Indian refiners buy Russian crude on ‘delivered basis’ wherein the sellers are responsible for arranging vessels, insurance and satisfying the limited banking channels handling payments to Russia there is no breach of the western price cap.
Since the Ukraine war began in 2022, Russia has become India’s second biggest oil supplier due to hefty discounts as western buyers shunned those barrels. The discounts have come down to single digit, which keep varying according to benchmark oil prices and market conditions, from as much as $20 or so soon after the conflict broke out.