India’s Russian oil buying since Ukraine war more than double from 2021

India has bought more than two times as a great deal crude oil from Russia in the months when you consider its invasion of Ukraine because it did in the complete of 2021, in line with Reuters calculations, as Indian refiners snapped up discounted oil that others have avoided.

Refiners in India have located orders for at least forty million barrels of Russian oil because of the invasion on February 24, Reuters calculations are primarily based on information from crude tenders and trader’s displays. The purchases are for loading inside the June zone.

“We try to insulate consumers as much from price shocks as we can, but we need to protect our profits as well […] so we are buying Russian oil,” a legitimate at one refiner, who declined to be named, stated.

According to Reuters calculations, purchases of Russian barrels with the aid of non-public refiners Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy outstrip imports by using country refiners Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, and Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Reliance has bought at least 15 million barrels of Russian oil up to now for the June sector, change assets said remaining week. Reliance did now not respond to a request for comment at that time.

Nayara Energy, element-owned via Russia’s top producer Rosneft, has bought 8 million to 9 million barrels of Russian crude for loading in April-May, alternate assets said. Nayara did not reply to a Reuter’s e-mail looking for remarks.

Western sanctions against Russia considering the fact that its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “unique operation”, has brought on many oil importers to shun change with Moscow, pushing Russian crude’s bargain to different grades to document tiers.

While New Delhi has called for a right away ceasefire in Ukraine, it has now not explicitly condemned Moscow’s movements.

Defending India’s oil imports from Russia, the  US’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that India’s purchases from Russia are a minuscule fraction of the united states of America’s ordinary oil wishes.

Indian groups are buying Russian oil on an introduced foundation, with dealers arranging for shipping and coverage.

Washington has already stated it does no longer object to New Delhi buying Russian oil below marketplace rates, however, warned against a steep rise in imports as that might impede the US response to the warfare in Ukraine.

Analysts said India’s Russian oil imports might also taper off as a complete-scale implementation of the European and US sanctions from mid-May and past due June may hit logistics.

“Indian refiners’ capacity to process Russian oil is limited, and also there could be logistic challenges like insurance, tankers and payment mechanism once full European and US sanctions against Russian kick in,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.

Already under pressure from sanctions, some trading houses are scaling back their dealings in Russian oil, he said.