Source: Reference News
According to TASS news agency on October 17, the Indian newspaper Truss quoted Kepler as saying that India accelerated oil imports from Russia in the first half of October due to increased demand for energy.
Kepler said that the acceleration in the supply of Ural crude oil and other varieties of Russian oil to India was influenced by the fall in oil prices and increased logistics efficiency. data showed that in the first half of October, India imported an average of about 1.8 million barrels per day from Russia, about 250,000 barrels more than the average daily import in September.
Kepler’s analysts said: “This suggests that, for economic and contractual reasons, and thanks to strategic cooperation with Russia, Russian oil is still deeply integrated into India’s energy system.”
Kepler said that New Delhi is diversifying overseas oil supply sources, not to replace Russian oil in the short term, but to improve its own energy security and increase supply flexibility. The company said that although India's energy imports from the United States may increase, its imports can only reach a maximum of about 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day due to logistics problems faced by large-scale transportation and difficulties in compatibility between U.S. crude oil and Indian refining processes.
India is one of the world’s largest oil importers.In 2024, India’s oil imports grew by 2.3% to 2,4 billion tons.
The United States has imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods and services since the end of August on the basis of India’s purchase of Russian crude oil and petroleum products.
US President Trump recently announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told him that India is ready to stop buying Russian oil. A spokesman for the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no information about the recent contacts between Modi and Trump. (Compilation/Zhao Zhipeng)