Washington: US president Donald Trump said on Saturday that India has reportedly stopped purchasing Russian oil, calling it a “good step” if confirmed. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) did not confirm any pause on imports though.
“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,” Trump told journalists in Washington.
This comes days after Washington decided to impose a penalty on India for purchasing crude oil and military equipment from Russia, over and above the 25% tariff. Both Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio had criticised India for continuing to import discounted Russian oil despite Western sanctions over the Ukraine war.
The MEA, however, said the ministry is not aware of any possible halt in Russian imports. “India’s energy purchases are driven by national interests and market forces. We do not have any reports of Indian oil firms halting Russian imports,” officials were quoted as saying.
“You are aware of our broad approach to energy sourcing requirements, that we look at what is available in the market and the prevailing global situation. We are not aware of any specifics,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said during the weekly briefing on Friday.
Indian state refiners may have stopped buying Russian oil over the past week as discounts narrowed this month and the US issued threats. India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, is the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude.
According to Reuters, the country’s state refiners – Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd – have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so.
The refiners and the petroleum ministry did not immediately respond to the report. The four refiners regularly buy Russian oil on a delivered basis and have turned to spot markets for replacement supply – mostly Middle Eastern grades such as Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude and West African oil, sources said.
Private refiners Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy are the biggest Russian oil buyers in India, but state refiners control over 60% of India’s overall 5.2 million barrels per day refining capacity.