India has halved its purchases of Russian oil, a White House official said, but Indian sources said no immediate reduction had been seen, as President Donald Trump’s administration presses New Delhi and other nations to buy less Russian crude.
Russian oil is a main irritant for Trump in prolonged trade talks with India – half of his 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases. His administration says Moscow is using petroleum revenue to fund its war in Ukraine.
The White House official said that talks with an Indian delegation in Washington this week have been productive and that Indian refiners were already cutting Russian oil imports by 50pc.
But Indian industry sources yesterday said that New Delhi had not informed refiners of any request to cut Russian imports.
Refiners have already placed orders for November loading, including some cargoes for December arrival, so any cut could be visible in December or January import numbers, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Indeed, India’s imports of Russian oil are set to rise about 20pc this month to 1.9 million barrels per day, according to estimates from commodities data firm Kpler, as Russia ramps up exports after Ukrainian drones hit its refineries.
Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him on Wednesday that India would stop buying Russian oil. India’s foreign ministry did not respond to Trump’s assertion except to say it was not aware of any telephone conversation between the two leaders that day.
Still, India’s oil minister sought data on Russian oil imports from all the refiners, including their loadings and arrivals tied up for November and December.
India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil sold at a discount after Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its 2022 invasion of its neighbour.
Russia accounted for 36pc of India’s oil imports, some 1.75m barrels per day, in the six months through September, trade data shows.
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