A former Indian ambassador has slammed a news report claiming that India was no longer interested in buying Russian oil, saying that such “misguided” reports are a handiwork of the pro US-lobby operating in the country.
Will India Ditch Russian Oil? Experts Doubt
The news report in question, published in English daily The Economic Times, cited unnamed officials in India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, who claimed that buying crude from Russia was no longer lucrative for Indian refiners because of dwindling discounts on these purchases.
The report further claimed that Iraq and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which are part of the OPEC cartel, have offered New Delhi “credits for longer periods of time” to replace the Russian energy supplies in the Indian energy basket.
Significantly, the unverified news report coincides with Riyadh’s announcement that it would extend output cuts by a million barrels per day (bpd) in August to support international crude prices under a deal between OPEC and OPEC+ nations, the latter including Russia.
Similarly, Bloomberg reported that Russian crude shipments to India fell to 2.09 million bpd in July, the lowest since January and could fall even further in August.
Oil Supplies to Continue Despite US Efforts
A New York Times/Siena College poll reported on Tuesday that Biden’s approval ratings are currently the lowest for an incumbent president, while ex-President Donald Trump remains the most preferred candidate for Republican voters.
According to the poll, only 20 percent of Americans polled said that they felt that the economy was in a good shape, amid lingering questions over billions of dollars in military and financial assistance to Ukraine.
Another opinion poll by US-based think tank Washington Institute this week noted that popular support for Washington-brokered Abraham Accords has been plummeting in the UAE and Bahrain, which were among the first nations to normalize ties with Israel in 2020.
He noted that the Biden administration and its western allies have completely failed in “pressuring” India to draw down its energy imports from Russia, which has emerged as India’s top supplier of crude for the first time in history this year.
Ahmad opined that the US’ motive in asking India to cut down its energy imports from Russia would result in a bigger market share of the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC cartel.
He underlined that Saudi Arabia itself recorded record volumes of discounted Russian fuel oil in June, according to data from Kpler cited by Reuters.
Oil supplies from Russia to China and India
© Sputnik
India Buying Russian Oil Because of Attractive Terms
Ahmad said that New Delhi has ramped up its energy imports from Moscow since last year because it was available to New Delhi at a “concessional rate”.
“An important thing to note here is that although Indians are getting Russian oil at a concessional rate, they are able to monetize it only after refining it,” the ex-diplomat said. “This makes an economic logic as it has helped in stabilizing the global energy market.”