Despite West turn their back on Russian crude, India eyes to buy more from Russia at a cheaper price.
Russia’s Ural crude is being snapped by Indian crude refiners at a higher discounted price, even after Shell was slammed with heavy criticism after it purchased Russian Urals after the war started.
Indian gains Hindustan Petroleum Crop. recently bought 2 million barrel for delivery in June and other refiners are also seeking cargoes, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp are looking to buy Urals crude for delivery in May and June, the people familiar with the plans said to Bloomberg.
India counterparts are considering workarounds for payment including rupee payments benchmarked to the U.S. dollar for buying the crude, Indian government officials said recently.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told lawmakers last week that the nation is keeping all options open to see how much Russian crude it can import.
Oil from Russia accounted for 2 per cent of overall purchases from overseas in 2021 – or about 33 million barrels – according to Indian government data. The Middle East was the biggest supplier to India, making up more than 60 per cent of imports.
