Indian Oil Corp. is looking to buy 24 million barrels of crude oil from the Americas in the first quarter of next year to replace lost Russian supply after the latest U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil.
Indian refiners have suspended new orders for Russian crude, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources as saying the industry awaited clarity from the government about navigating the new U.S. sanction context.
The bill for oil imports will rise if this happens. Russian crude—often sold at a discount to comparable grades—has come to account for a third of India’s total imports. Replacing this amount—over 1 million barrels daily—would likely push prices higher, adding to India’s total import bill. Crude oil imports account for 86% of domestic consumption.
President Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to make India pay “massive” tariffs unless it stops buying Russian oil, repeating that India’s Prime Minister had assured him those purchases would stop.
The UK slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers and two Chinese energy firms that deal with Moscow as London seeks to intensify pressure on the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine.
Russia is one of the top-three oil exporters in the world, meaning any pressure on its exports should be applied with care to avoid a price shock. Indeed, President Trump’s statement about PM Modi pushed oil benchmarks higher earlier today because of the supply tightening effect such a move by India would have.
Vucic had been seeking a three-year contract with Gazprom, following two meetings this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to the tabloid Informer, he suggested the delay was linked to US sanctions on oil refiner Naftna Industrija Srbije that came into full effect earlier this month after several temporary waivers expired.
Russia’s oil production averaged 9.173 million bpd in August, compared to the 9.259 million bpd ceiling in the OPEC+ deal, which also takes into account Moscow’s compensation for previous overproduction.
“We are aligned on the need to act together and believe that now is the time for a significant coordinated escalation of measures to bolster Ukraine’s resilience and critically impair Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine,” the statement said.
Russia’s liquefied natural gas cargoes could be redirected to Turkey and Asia if the European Union makes a plan to ban Russian LNG official, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of French oil and gas supermajor TotalEnergies, says.