(Oil Price)– India hasn’t requested refiners to cut imports of Russian crude oil and no cuts have been seen for the already placed nominations for loadings in November, Indian industry sources told Reuters on Friday, after the U.S. claimed refiners had started to reduce Russian supply.
U.S.-Indian talks in Washington this week were productive and Indian refiners are already halving crude oil imports from Russia, a White House official told Reuters on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that India had agreed to cut imports of Russian crude oil.
According to the U.S. President, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that Indian refiners would stop buying Russian crude “within a short period of time”.
Despite the U.S. claim that Indian refiners are already cutting imports from Russia by 50%, unspecified Indian industry sources told Reuters that any potential cuts could be shown in volumes for December and January crude imports as the refiners have already booked the cargo loadings for November and part of the loadings for December.
Russian oil imports account for about a third of all crude arrivals in India, which has significantly boosted Russian crude buying in the past three years.
Some refiners in India have started to prepare to reduce their purchases of Russian crude, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources in the know. The sources said the reduction would be gradual.
Officially, India on Thursday neither confirmed nor denied that it would indeed cut or halt imports of Russian crude.
In response to comments on India’s energy sourcing, Randhir Jaiswal, an official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said “India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
