Moneycontrol | Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on buying oil from Russia, 'India will buy it from the country it wants to buy'

Oct 08,2022

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday in clear words that India will continue to buy oil from any country from where it is to be purchased. At the same time, he has also made it clear that no country has neither refused nor asked India to stop buying oil from Russia.

After Russia's attack on Ukraine, Western countries stopped buying oil from Russia. Due to this the price of its oil had fallen. In such a situation, China and India have continued to buy oil from Russia at low prices. India is the third largest oil importer and consumer country in the world.

Puri, who was here to interact with US officials on clean energy, said it is the moral responsibility of the government to provide energy to its consumers at affordable prices.

Puri told Indian media here,"India will buy whatever oil it wants to buy and the simple reason for this is that such a discussion cannot be held in the context of India's consumer population. Anyway, we have to buy oil from Russia. No one has refused."

Along with this, he expressed confidence that India will be able to reduce the impact of the decision of the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries OPEC and its allies 'OPEC Plus' to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day.

Puri also held bilateral talks with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Grenholm. He then said,"If you are clear about your oil policy, which means you believe in energy security and energy affordability, then you will buy energy from the sources you want to buy."

85% of India's oil needs are supplied by imports. Simultaneously, India is trying to expand the scope of its sources of oil procurement.

The Indian government has been defending oil purchases from Russia on the ground that it will have to buy oil from where it is cheapest. The government has expressed no desire to join the US-led G7 group's plan to cap the price of oil purchased from Russia to limit its revenues.

Puri, in response to a question, said that India is not a member of the OPEC group, but OPEC's decisions have an impact on it. He said that OPEC member countries have a sovereign right to decide on oil production.

He said, “I have traditionally always said that they have every right to decide how much oil they want to produce and how much they want to supply to the market. But I always say that it is expected and unexpected. Depends on the principle of consequences."