(Reuters) – (This June 17 story has been corrected throughout to show comments were from Indian Oil executive, not head of ONGC, as erroneously reported by Interfax news agency; and adds quotes from online broadcast of the panel)
Russia may account for almost a third of Indian Oil’s crude oil imports in the current financial year, an executive at the company said on Saturday.
“(The) share of Russian crude oil imports, which was less than 2% in ’21/22 has increased 10 times, to around 20% in India’s buy of crude oil imports,” Vinod Kumar told a panel at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“In Indian Oil’s case the jump in Russian imports is more profound: from 0.1% in 21/22 to 21.5% in 22/23. And I’m expecting that for the current year, that is 23/24, the numbers will be available (at) 30%.”
Russia has been redirecting its energy supplies from Western countries which have imposed restrictions and sanctions on trade with Moscow, including an oil price cap, after its invasion of Ukraine. China and India purchase most of the re-routed Russian energy.
Russian crude oil imports by India, the world’s No. 3 crude importer, hit an all-time high in May as buyers gorged on discounted supplies, reducing demand for oil from the Middle East and Africa, according to preliminary assessments from ship trackers.
(Reporting by Reuters)
