Only hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he heard that India was stopping oil imports from Russia, Indian government sources explained that domestic oil refiners actively source crude from Russian suppliers.
"Indian oil refiners continue to source oil from Russian suppliers. Their supply decisions are guided by price, grade of crude, inventories, logistics and other economic factors," sources were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Clarifying India’s ongoing crude imports from Russia, official sources cited by ANI said that Russia is a significant contributor to the global oil market. As the second-largest producer of crude oil, it produces about 9.5 million barrels per day or around 10% of the global consumption. And it is the second-largest exporter, exporting about 4.5 million barrels of crude and 2.3 million barrels of refined petroleum products per day. The earlier fear of the Russian oil being contractually disrupted had driven the Brent crude prices up to $137 per barrel in March 2022, on fears that the global supply chains could be interrupted as Russia was a significant supplier of crude globally.
"In such a challenging scenario, India— the world’s third-largest energy consumer with an 85% dependence on crude oil imports— adjusted its sourcing strategy to secure energy at affordable prices, while fully complying with international regulations," the sources added, as quoted by ANI.
Earlier, Trump had said while speaking to reporters on Friday, "Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens."
His remarks were made after the White House announced more tariffs aimed at exports from nearly 70 countries. The executive order established a 25 per cent tariffs on India, however it did not reference the additional "penalty" that Donald Trump had proposed, which was linked to India's continued imports of Russian defence and energy resources.
At the weekly press briefing on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was also asked about reported news that Indian oil firms may have suspended purchases of Russian crude over the past week.
He said, "As far as sourcing India’s energy requirements is concerned, we take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time. As for the specifics of your particular question, I am not aware of it. I don’t have details of these specifics."
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, also spoke about trade with India and the country’s defence and energy ties with Russia. He said, "India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country."
"Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine — All things not good!”
He added that India would face a 25 per cent tariff, "plus a penalty for the above, starting on August 1."
In another remark posted on Truth Social, Trump said, "I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way..."
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