Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has told RT why his country has confidence in cooperating with Moscow on crude imports
India will continue buying Russian crude as long as prices are favorable, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told RT on the sidelines of India Energy Week on Thursday. New Dehli has significantly ramped up purchases of Russian crude since the start of the Ukraine conflict.
According to Puri, Russian oil currently accounts for 30%-34% of India’s total imports of the fuel, up from just 0.2% before February 2022. “Imports of crude oil are the biggest item in our import basket. And equally, the export of petroleum products is the biggest item in our export basket. We will import from wherever we can, and we will export to wherever we can,” the minister explained.
At the same time, Puri stressed that many countries, including those who have supported US-led sanctions against Moscow, continue to purchase commodities from Russia. “[Some countries] decided to weaponize [oil] – for ideological reasons. Well and good. They didn’t stop all imports. They stopped crude oil imports, but they are continuing to import gas [from Russia]. They are continuing to import other critical minerals,” the minister pointed out.
India snapped up an average of 1.75 million barrels of Russian crude per day in 2023, according to Kpler data analyzed by The Independent. Meanwhile, the European Union’s imports of refined oil from India also grew to record levels last year, meaning consumers likely received unprecedented volumes of oil products that originated from Russia via India, the outlet noted.
"World Should Be Grateful" India Kept Buying Russian Crude – RT Meets Indian Oil Minister
Hardeep Puri told @Runjhunsharmas the West "weaponised" Russian oil, while hypocritically importing supplies it still needed – like gas and minerals.
India's Petroleum and Natural Gas… pic.twitter.com/E0GqKbgwps