India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, stated that the US has not pressured India to reduce its imports of Russian oil.
What happened
According to Puri, India's crude oil sourcing has been reorganized, with refiners increasing purchases from the Middle East and reducing imports from Russia. In September, India's imports of Russian crude dropped to their lowest level since April.
Puri noted that the purchase of Russian oil is linked to discounts and pricing compared to other suppliers. He also mentioned that India was getting 0.2 percent of its oil imports from Russia before the Ukraine war, but imports have surged since the war started due to discounts on Russian oil.
India is one of the world's largest purchasers of Russian crude, with Russia accounting for about 39 percent of India's oil imports in 2023. The US had previously considered imposing sanctions on countries that purchase Russian oil, but recently waived these sanctions to facilitate a trade deal with India.
