In 2020-21, India imported 633,000 tons at 0.3 percent, while in 2019-20 purchases amounted to 2.93 million tons or 1.3 percent of total imports, he said.
India buying more volumes of crude oil from Russia is still less than 1 percent of total oil imports, while volumes from the US are set to rise significantly, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Monday.
Responding to additional questions during question time in the Rajya Sabha, he said that in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year starting in April 2020, India bought 419,000 tons of crude oil from Russia, which was 0.2 percent of total imports. of 175.9 million tons.
In 2020-21, India imported 633,000 tons at 0.3 percent, while in 2019-20 purchases amounted to 2.93 million tons or 1.3 percent of total imports, he said.
The statement comes against the backdrop of Indian companies picking up ailing Russian cargoes that are being offered at huge discounts. While Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has bought 3 million barrels through a trader, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has raised 2 million barrels.
“We need a total of 5 million barrels per day. That is our (crude oil) consumption. 60 percent of that comes from the Gulf,” he said. “Even if we scaled this one up significantly, it would still be a drop, literally a drop, in a bigger bucket.” He said oil imports from Russia are “tiny”, “even now the total contracted amount will be less than three days of supply from Russia to India and that will also spread over the next three to four months.” As for the US, Puri said India has a robust bilateral energy relationship with Washington.
In fiscal year 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021), India imported 14 million tons of crude oil from the United States, representing 7.3 percent of total imports.
“In the current year, based on our imports from the United States and if I look at the forecast, it will probably increase from 14 million tons to 16.8 million tons or worth about USD 10 billion worth of crude oil imports from the US,” he said.
If we add LNG and coal imports, the trade will be close to $13.5 billion, he said. “So it’s a robust relationship in terms of energy, and I see this continuing for a while.” On the impact of Western sanctions on Indian investment in Russia, the minister said Indian state oil companies have invested $16 billion in oil and gas projects in Russia.
Some multinationals, including ExxonMobil and Shell, have announced their withdrawal from Russian projects after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
This, said Puri, is nuanced. “Some have indicated that they intend to leave. Others have said they will not make any new investment. But, as I said, we are monitoring the situation.” Discussions are taking place at the highest levels of those companies. ONGC Videsh Ltd. has a 20 percent stake in the Sakhalin-I project in Russia’s Far East, from which operator ExxonMobil has announced it is exiting.
“We were concerned when we read those reports because if the operator leaves, the production of the facilities will be undermined. But we were told no. The production facilities will continue,” he said.
On the four-month freeze in gasoline and diesel prices, despite the rise in commodity prices (crude oil) from $81-82 a barrel to $111 on Monday, he said the oil companies involved will make a decision.
“The oil companies involved have not passed this (increase in the price of crude oil) on to consumers. When they will, etc., these are decisions they will have to make,” he said.
Puri said India joined other consuming countries such as the US, Japan and Korea in November last year to release supplies from strategic oil reserves. That “release had a sobering impact (on international oil prices).” But India did not participate in the recent share issuance ordered by the IEA.
“India signaled an intention, a support, but we didn’t make the release,” he said. “Releases from strategic reserves may have limited impact in a given situation, but when the international market is in such turmoil as it is today, high prices are, I think, of limited concern.”
This post India’s Russian oil imports less than 1% of total, US share rising: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was original published at “https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/indias-import-of-russian-oil-less-than-1-of-total-share-from-us-to-rise-petroleum-minister-hardeep-singh-puri/2467083/”
