India reduces Russian oil imports as US trade pressure mounts: Report
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New Delhi: India has reportedly reduced its December purchases of Russian crude oil, reflecting the impact of Western sanctions and ongoing trade talks with the United States, Bloomberg reported.
At least five major Indian refiners — Reliance Industries Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. — have not placed any orders for Russian oil for next month, despite the usual deadline of the 10th of the current month. These five refiners account for roughly two-thirds of India’s Russian crude imports this year, according to Kpler data cited by Bloomberg.
In August, US President Donald Trump doubled trade tariffs on India, imposing a 50% levy, including a 25% “penalty” for continuing purchases of Russian oil. Trump accused New Delhi of indirectly funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On Monday, Trump indicated the tariffs could be lowered, noting that Indian refiners had “substantially” reduced Russian oil purchases. Speaking from the Oval Office, he said, “Right now the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil and they’ve stopped doing the Russian oil. It’s been reduced very substantially. Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down on India.”
Trump also suggested that Washington was “pretty close” to a “fair trade deal” with India. “We’re making a deal with India — a much different deal than we had in the past. So right now, they don’t love me, but they’ll love us. Again, we’re getting a fair deal, just a fair trade deal. We had pretty unfair trade deals. They’re very good negotiators… But we’re getting close, I think we’re pretty close to doing a deal that’s good for everybody,” he added.
Trump has previously claimed multiple times that India would stop buying Russian oil, though New Delhi has not explicitly confirmed this. In response to a similar statement in October, the Ministry of External Affairs said New Delhi was already “diversifying” its crude sourcing.
In recent years, India has relied heavily on discounted Russian crude. Among other refiners, Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and Nayara Energy Ltd. have placed December orders — with IOC sourcing from non-sanctioned suppliers, while Nayara, partly owned by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft, continues to depend solely on Russian crude.