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Russian Crude Oil Purchase: India’s crude oil imports from Russia strengthened in the first fortnight of October, ending the three-month decline from July to September. According to the data related to the movement of ships, Indian refineries are working at full capacity to meet the festive demand, due to which there has been an improvement in imports.
Arrival increased after three months
India’s crude oil imports from Russia had declined from 20 lakh barrels per day (BPD) in June to 16 lakh BPD in September. However, preliminary figures for October indicate improvement. There has been a surge in supplies of Ural and other Russian grades of oil to India, supported by reduced demand in western markets and new discounts.
According to preliminary data from global trade analysis company ‘Kepler’, India’s oil imports in October stood at about 18 lakh barrels per day, which is about 2.5 lakh BPD more than the previous month. However, the company says that the figures for the current month may be revised.
India’s clarification on Trump’s statement
These figures are before US President Donald Trump’s statement on October 15, in which he claimed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Has agreed to stop Russian oil imports. However, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected this claim and said that he was not aware of any such conversation. He said that Russian oil is an important part of India’s energy system.
Kepler’s Chief Research Analyst (Refining and Modeling) Sumit Ritolia says that Trump’s statement appears to be a business pressure tactic rather than any policy change. He said that Russian oil has an important place in India’s energy system for economic, contractual and strategic reasons. Indian refineries have also clarified that no instructions have been received from the government to stop importing Russian oil.
Russian oil imports increased after Ukraine war
Following the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, India had significantly increased oil imports from Russia. Due to Western sanctions and decline in European demand, Russian oil is becoming available at huge discounts, which has benefited energy importing countries like India.
