India splurges on Russian oil as sanctions threat fades

INDIAN REFINERS HAVE splurged on Russian crude in the last two months and expect to continue buying at current lofty levels for the rest of the year, as the country navigates a West Asia supply crunch and the threat of US sanctions begins to fade.

- RAKESH SHARMA & RONG WEI NEO

Executives at leading refiners said they expected a US waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil to be extended before it expires in the coming days. But purchases are unlikely to drop back even without that, given a dearth of supply options, they added.

“Our priority is to source the energy needed to meet our domestic demand,’ Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the oil ministry, said, when asked how critical US waivers were to India’s decision to import Russian oil.

The choice “is driven by the technical commercial feasibility of the crude and the commercial sense it makes to our refiners,” she said during a briefing on Friday.