No one has told us not to buy oil from Russia, says minister Hardeep Puri

India will buy oil from wherever it has to and provide energy to its citizens, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday, asserting that no country has told India to stop buying oil from Russia.

The West, primarily comprising the US, has warned of sanctions on countries trading with Russia, in view of the war the latter is waging in Ukraine. This has impacted the supply chain of various commodities, which Russia used to supply, including oil and gas.

This has pushed up energy prices for many consumers and businesses around the world, hurting households, industries and entire economies of several nations.

India has had a long-standing relationship with Russia and has maintained that it would continue to buy resources, including oil from Russia.

India’s crude oil imports from Russia have jumped over 50 times since April and now it makes up for 10 per cent of all crude bought from overseas. Russian oil made up for just 0.2 per cent of all oil imported by India prior to the Ukraine war.

Also read: US: Focus new Russia sanctions on oil revenue, arms supplies

Western countries are gradually bringing down their energy purchases from Russia.

“India will buy oil from wherever it has to for the simple reason that this kind of a discussion cannot be taken to the consuming population of India,” Puri told a group of Indian reporters, adding that the government has a moral duty to provide energy to its people.

Responding to a question, he said India has not been told by anyone to stop buying oil from Russia.

“If you are clear about your policy, which means you believe in energy security and energy affordability, you will buy from wherever you have to purchase energy from sources,” Puri said after his bilateral meeting with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

During his meeting Puri “broached the idea” of India-US Green Corridor, which elicited a positive response from his US counterpart.

“The turbulence in the energy markets, and I’m using the word turbulence support carefully, will not allow India’s resolve to transition to green clean and sustainable energy,” he said.

The two countries would now look into broader contours of this ambitious Green Energy Corridor.

Also read: Saudi Arabia overtakes Russia to be No.2 supplier of oil to India

India’s import from the US is shooting up and currently buying USD20 billion worth of energy from the United States. There are discussions on buying more from the United States, he said.

While work on green energy would continue, traditional exploration, and production of oil and gas would continue as well, he noted.

The world is also in progress on green hydrogen. India and the US have an advantage which at present is not being realised, he added.

(With agencies inputs)