India is increasing its purchases of oil from Russia at discount prices, after which Indian refineries process it into petroleum products for the US and EU markets, Bloomberg reports . This corresponds to the plan of the West, which is to reduce the income of the Russian Federation from the sale of raw materials, but at the same time not to provoke an energy crisis in the world. India itself, through the import of Russian oil, covers 85% of its own needs, the newspaper writes.
Last month, India shipped about 89,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel to the US in a single day last month, the most in nearly four years, according to data from analyst firm Kpler. Daily deliveries of low-sulphur diesel fuel to Europe in January amounted to 172,000 barrels, the highest since October 2021.
On February 5, the EU oil embargo and the maximum price for Russian oil began to work – the Council of Europe agreed on a price ceiling for Russian oil at $60 per barrel. The purchase of oil by the West from a country outside the bloc probably does not contradict EU rules, writes Bloomberg, and even corresponds to its policy – refined products exported from India are no longer considered Russian.
“India's willingness to buy more Russian oil at a greater discount is a ploy, not a mistake, in Western countries' plan to inflict economic pain on Putin without hurting themselves,” said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and a former adviser in the Obama administration.
Earlier, in January 2023, it was reported that the Indian authorities were ready to support the price ceiling for Russian oil, which was introduced by a coalition of Western countries, if necessary. Telegraph India, citing sources in the Indian government, wrote that the average cost of a barrel of oil from Russia is $53-56. In turn, Reuters reported that some batches were shipped from Russia to India at prices below the cost of production. Given Bloomberg's information, the likelihood of India joining the bloc is now questionable.