India is not profiteering from importing Russian crude, it actually helps keep global oil prices in check, Indian Hardeep Singh Puri wrote in a column in The Hindu newspaper on Monday, amid growing criticism from the United States that the world’s third-largest crude importer is profiteering from Russia’s oil.
“India’s adherence to all international norms prevented a catastrophic $200 per barrel shock,” Puri wrote in the column.
“Some critics allege that India has become a ‘laundromat’ for Russian oil. Nothing could be further from the truth,” the minister said.
Peter Navarro, White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that India is “nothing but a laundromat for the Kremlin”, referring to New Delhi importing cheap Russian oil and selling the refined fuels at higher prices in Europe and Asia.
“Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people,” Navarro told Fox News, defending the Trump Administration’s now-hiked 50% tariff on Indian goods, 25% of which is due to India’s continued imports of Russian crude.
In response to the “profiteering” claim, India’s Puri wrote that “Russian oil has never been sanctioned like Iranian or Venezuelan crude; it is under a G-7/European Union price cap system deliberately designed to keep oil flowing while capping revenues.”
India hasn’t broken any rules on Russian oil, the Indian minister said, adding that it has “stabilized markets and kept global prices from spiraling.”
“The truth is that there is no substitute for the world’s second-largest producer supplying nearly 10% of global oil,” Puri wrote.
“Those who are pointing fingers ignore this fact.”
The heated remarks over India’s role in Russian oil trade come as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a security summit in China.
Meanwhile, India’s refiners are expected to import more Russian crude in September compared to August levels as discounts are deepening amid Russia’s constrained refining capacity due to Ukrainian drone strikes, traders told Reuters last week.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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