India has been taking advantage of Russia’s oil and gas export struggles amid its war in Ukraine.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, India has bought more than twice as much crude oil from the oil producer than it did in all of last year, according to an analysis from Reuters.
Indian refiners have scooped up 40 million barrels of crude oil since Feb. 24, compared to just 16 million barrels it ordered in 2021.
“We try to insulate consumers as much from price shocks as we can, but we need to protect our profits as well,” an unnamed official at one refiner said. “So, we are buying Russian oil.”
FIRES BREAK OUT AT RUSSIAN OIL STORAGE FACILITIES NEAR UKRAINE
Sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports have made it more difficult, but not impossible, for Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep up his country’s main source of revenue. While the sanctions have caused several countries to cut off the lines, India has been quick to capitalize on Putin’s price crunch.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that buying Russian oil wasn’t in India’s best interest but didn’t condemn the practice. Biden did suggest that purchasing oil from Russia could interfere with the West’s response to the war in Ukraine.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
As sanctions continue to ramp up, including a pending vote from European Union members to place an embargo on Russian oil, India might begin to scale back its imports.
“Indian refiners’ capacity to process Russian oil is limited, and also there could be logistic challenges like insurance, tankers and payment mechanism once full European and U.S. sanctions against [Russia] kick in,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.
