India purchased largest amount of oil from Russia for the second month

New Delhi: Russia surpassed Iraq and Saudi Arabia and became the largest fuel supplier of India for the second consecutive month. An organisation called Vortexa, which records fuel transport, gave this information. In October and November before March 31, 2022, India was buying only 0.2% of its oil demand from Russia, India’s largest oil supplier. But after the Ukraine conflict broke out, Russia proposed to supply fuel to India at discounted rates. India had taken advantage of this to increase its fuel oil purchases from Russia. Meanwhile, Russia has welcomed India’s decision not to comply with the G7 countries’ oil sanctions.

According to data provided by Vortexa, India purchased about 8,61,461 barrels per day of oil from Iraq and 5,70,922 barrels per day from Saudi Arabia in November. Besides, the United States was in the fourth position on this list, and India bought about 4,05,525 barrels of oil per day from the US in November. However, in November, India purchased 9,09,403 barrels of oil daily from Russia. Therefore, after October, Russia also became India’s largest oil supplier in November. India buying only 0.2% of its demand before March 2022, has started buying a huge amount of fuel from Russia, which has become noteworthy.

The US and European countries had targeted Russia’s fuel exports after the Ukraine conflict broke out. Russia amicably proposed to supply oil to India at discounted rates to win it over. Capitalising on this, Indian fuel companies began buying large quantities of oil from Russia. Russia has now become the largest oil supplier to India, surpassing the Gulf countries of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. There have been clear indications that this fuel trade between the two countries will increase further in the coming times.

Moreover, the United States and European countries pressured India not to buy fuel from Russia. However, India defied this pressure by taking a firm stance. Also, India had warned the US and Europe that while fuel prices were soaring, India would continue to buy cheap fuel for its people. While answering the question asked in Parliament, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar clarified that the government was not instructing its fuel companies to buy fuel from a particular country or not but to buy fuel that was available at a lower price.

Besides, there have been demands that India purchases fuel from Russia, but within the price limits imposed by the G7 countries. The US and European countries have again been increasing pressure on India for this. But India categorically refused it. Russia has welcomed India’s decision.

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