India will continue to buy Russian oil despite Trump’s demands - Bloomberg
Indian refineries do not plan to refuse Russian crude oil despite US pressure.
Bloomberg writes about this, Censor.NET reports.
Purchases will continue during the supply period in November and December, but the volumes may be lower than the peaks observed in recent years.
In August, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Russian oil supplies to India. However, this only temporarily reduced purchases.
Oil supplies from Russia to India fell to 1 million barrels per day by mid-September, the lowest level in almost two years. This is due to both the introduction of US tariffs and Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.
But, according to the sources, the US pressure is apparently easing as Trump thanked Modi for his "support in ending the war" during a phone call this week. If sufficient Urals are available, imports could rise again.
New Delhi officials are in regular contact with major state-owned and private refineries. However, there has been no indication of a reduction in imports. The strategy may be revised later, depending on the progress of trade negotiations with the US.
India avoids oil from Iran and Venezuela, which are under US sanctions, but together with China, it actively uses discounts on Russian crude limited by the G7 price ceiling.
The Indian private refinery Nayara Energy, partially owned by Rosneft, is gradually resuming operations after the European sanctions. It has almost completely switched to Urals crude oil.
At the same time, Indian companies continue to look for alternatives. For example, Indian Oil Corp buys one tanker of oil from Brazil every month.
It is known that Russia covers about 40% of India's oil needs. This makes the country the largest buyer of Russian offshore oil. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the share was less than 1%.
