Has anyone advised me to cease acquiring Russian oil? Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri responded categorically in the negative when asked if India should purchase Russian oil. “Usually, we buy in a fifth of what Europe buys in one afternoon,” the minister remarked.
According to Hardeep Sing Puri, minister of union petroleum and natural gas, no one has instructed India to cease purchasing oil from Russia. The union minister stated in Washington following his bilateral meeting with US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm Weaver that the Indian government has a moral obligation to supply energy to its inhabitants and that it will continue to purchase oil from wherever it must.“If you are clear about your policy, which means you believe in energy security and energy affordability, you will buy from wherever you have to purchase energy from sources,” the minister said. The minister reiterated New Delhi’s position on buying oil from Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine war, saying, “India would buy oil from wherever it has to for the simple reason that this kind of a topic cannot be taken to the consuming population of India.”
“Have I been told by anyone to stop buying Russian oil? The answer is a categorical No,” the minister said.
“There has been a fair amount of misconception on energy buys from Russia. Typically what Europe buys in one afternoon is what we buy in a quarter. We ended the financial year with a total amount of Russian oil import of 0.2%. Yes when 24th February took place, and in the following months imports from Russia significantly arose as a result of the dislocation in the market,” Hardeep Singh Puri said.But subsequently, other suppliers stepped in. And I think, in the following months, another middle-eastern supplier was in the No 2 situation. And Saudis were No 1 always and one quarter I think Russia moved up,” the minister said.”Very often people don’t understand how the oil trade takes place. If I have to buy, let’s say, crude from a very distant place, where the price of icebreaker has to go in…it does not work out. For me, it’s much easier to buy from a proximate point. Let’s say in the Gulf.
The oil markets will play and we have to play the market card to choose,” the minister said.S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, provided an explanation of the factors that led India to decide to keep purchasing Russian oil on various platforms. Jaishankar recently claimed that PM Modi’s counsel on the subject was to act in the country’s best interests.
“Petrol prices doubled as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine. There was pressure on us to purchase the oil from certain sources, but Prime Minister Modi and the government believed that we should act in the best interests of the country “explained Jaishankar.OPEC+’s plan to reduce oil production by two million barrels per day was also discussed by Puri, who asserted that India would be able to handle the situation. “At the end of the day, when the amount of energy released by producers and suppliers balances the market’s demand and there is an equilibrium, market forces will come into play. The amount of energy you release will affect price ranges.
