Indian refiners, one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude, plan to cut their purchases in the coming weeks, a modest concession to Washington less than a day before U.S. tariffs are raised, but also a signal that the country has no plans to cut ties with Moscow.
Bloomberg writes, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, that state-owned and private refiners including Reliance Industries Ltd. are expected to buy between 1.4 million and 1.6 million barrels a day for October loading and beyond.
That compares with an average of 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of the year.
Volumes could change if India reaches a trade agreement with Trump and the US eases pressure on India for funding Russia’s war with Ukraine, sources said.
Spokesmen for India’s oil ministry, Reliance, Nayara Energy Ltd. and state-run refiners Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
Earlier this month, state-run refiners suspended purchases of Urals crude after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled the duty on all imports from India to penalise the country for buying Russian crude.
“India not only buys huge amounts of Russian oil, but resells much of it on the open market at a huge profit,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on 4 August. – They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian war machine.”
On the same day, India accused the US and the EU of double standards on trade with Russia. In a statement, the Indian Foreign Ministry said Washington and Brussels continue to trade with Russia even though it is “not a matter of vital necessity” for them.
India’s foreign ministry had said on 6 August that Trump’s decision to impose additional duties on goods from India because of the country’s purchase of Russian oil was “extremely unfortunate”.
However, according to media reports, India’s state-run refineries have started buying Russian oil again after a short break.