India is ready to abandon Russian oil: the country has found new importers

Indian officials who arrived in the United States this week have appealed to the Trump administration to allow the purchase of oil from sanctioned Iran and Venezuela amid the halt in supplies from Russia.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

It is known that the Indian delegation arrived on a visit to the United States after Washington imposed tariffs on the country as punishment for purchasing oil from Russia.

In the US, Indian representatives suggested to American officials to buy oil from suppliers under sanctions – Iran and Venezuela.

They assured that the simultaneous cessation of purchases by Indian refineries from Russia, Iran and Venezuela would affect world prices.

As Bloomberg notes, India stopped buying Iranian oil in 2019, and the country’s largest private refiner, Reliance Industries Ltd., stopped buying Venezuelan crude this year amid tightening US sanctions.

India continues to buy oil from Russia, but its price has fallen. Moscow was forced to reduce the price of the raw material after many countries abandoned it.

About 90% of India’s needs are met by Russian oil, as its cheap cost has helped reduce the burden on the country’s import costs.

However, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal recently stated that New Delhi seeks to increase purchases of American oil and gas.

“Our energy security goals will have a very high element of U.S. participation,” he said.

It was previously reported that Indian oil refining companies do not plan to cut imports of Russian oil , despite international pressure and rising tariffs.

Recall that in September, India planned to increase imports of Russian oil by 10-20%, despite new American tariffs of 50% on its goods . In this way, New Delhi demonstrates its unwillingness to give up cheap Russian raw materials, which help the Kremlin finance the war against Ukraine.

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