Here’s What Union Min Hardeep Puri Said When Asked About Cut in Petrol, Diesel Prices

As crude oil prices decline globally, the central government may lower fuel prices if the international crude cost remains stable and oil companies do well next quarter.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday that there has been no rise in oil prices since April 2022 and indicated that he will make sure that consumers do not suffer hardships.

“Oil companies will be in a position to consider the issue of lowering petrol and diesel prices if the international crude cost remains stable and they are doing well in the next quarter,” Puri told a news conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Marking nine years of Modi government rule.

India’s imports of Russian oil rise again in May

India’s imports of cheap Russian oil rose another record in May and are now more than the sum of oil bought from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, industry data showed.

India got 1.96 million bpd from Russia in May, up 15 percent from the previous high in April, according to data from energy shipments tracker Vortexa.

Russia now accounts for nearly 42 percent of the total crude oil India imported in May. This is the highest share for an individual country in recent years. The increase in the Russian share came at the expense of traditional suppliers in the Middle East.

Shipments from Saudi Arabia fell to 560,000 tons – the lowest since February 2021, according to figures from the freight analytics firm.

The share of OPEC oil producers in India’s oil imports fell to an all-time low of 39 percent in May.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), mainly in the Middle East and Africa, accounted for up to 90 percent of all crude oil imported by India at one time, but this has been declining since Russian oil is now available. discount in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

For the eighth consecutive month, Russia continued to be the single largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for 42 percent of all oil imported by India. Crude oil is converted into gasoline and diesel at refineries.

Imports from Russia are now more than the combined purchases from Iraq and Saudi Arabia – India’s biggest suppliers in the past decade – as well as the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Iraq supplied 0.83 million bpd of oil in May, while the UAE shipped 203,000 bpd. The data showed that the source of up to 138 thousand barrels per day from the United States.

From a market share of less than 1 percent in India’s import basket before the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s share of India’s imports increased to 1.96 million barrels per day in May, when it acquired a 42 percent share. OPEC exported 1.8 million bpd of the 4.7 million bpd India imported in May. That’s down from the 2.1 million bpd of imports in April, according to Vortexa.

Indian refiners rarely bought Russian oil in the past due to high shipping costs, but now they buy ample quantities of Russian goods available at a discount compared to other grades, as some Western countries rejected them due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Purchases from Russia in May more than doubled the 0.83 million bpd of oil purchased from Iraq, which has been India’s largest oil supplier since 2017-2018. Saudi Arabia has been pushed to third place.

The average cost of Russian crude oil including freight costs landing on Indian shores in April was $68.21 per barrel – the lowest level since the Ukraine war. The average cost of Saudi crude sent to India in April was $86.96 per barrel, while the price of Iraqi oil was $77.77 per barrel.

The import price may not be released yet. Russia is selling record quantities of crude oil to India to plug the gap in its energy exports after the European Union banned imports in December.

According to Vortexa, India imported only 68,600 bpd of oil from Russia in March 2022.

(with PTI input)