The Indian Express | India will buy oil from wherever it has to, says Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

Oct 08,2022

Two days after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to cut oil production by two million barrels a day, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that India will buy oil from wherever it has to as it is difficult to have conversations with the consuming population about petroleum trade and its difficulties.

“We have a moral duty to supply oil to citizens,” he said during an interaction with a group of reporters in Washington DC, adding that he hasn’t been told by anyone to stop buying Russian oil.

“India consumes 5 million barrels a day, and it’s going up. So no we are not told by anyone.. there’s understanding. If there is an issue of how you want to deal with an evolving geo-political situation, which govt can have a discussion and those discussions will take place,” he said.

Puri added that there is a fair amount of misconception about buying energy from Russia.

Reacting to OPEC’s, he said it’s the sovereign right of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to decide on the oil production capacities. He added that the decision would likely be scrutinized very carefully.

“I have always traditionally taken the view, it is their sovereign right to decide what they wish to do, how much oil they want to produce and how much they want to put into the market,” Puri said.

“India is not a part of OPEC. India is at the receiving end of OPEC decisions…,” news agency PTI quoted him as responding to a question.

“In our interaction with the oil price producers in the grouping that you call OPEC, or OPEC, plus, our understanding, my understanding, based on what we were told last year that this was a temporary adjustment and what you would see is that by February the amount of crude which is released into the market would be sufficient to cater to the increasing demand,” Puri added.