India will continue to buy oil from Russia, says FM, at an event on Friday. “We have started buying, we have received quite a number of barrels, I would think three-four days supply and this will continue,” Sitharam said.
New Delhi would continue to purchase crude from Russia as its people required oil at a discount after the surge in global prices. She said that the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri is working on a plan to source more oil.
India has bought millions of barrels of crude oil from Russia at a discount since the war erupted, justifying the purchases as beneficial for its citizens and something that even European countries are doing.
Russia has offered its flagship Urals grade to India at discounts of as much as $35 a barrel on prices before the war to encourage India to lift more shipments.
“I would put my national interest first and I would put my energy security first. And if there is fuel available at discount. Why shouldn’t I buy it?” the finance minister said.
Despite the Russia-Ukraine scenario, Sitharaman said she was approaching the next fiscal year 2022-23 with cautious confidence. However, given the country’s commitment to climate change, voiced concerns about the price and availability of natural gas, which could represent a barrier for energy transition plans.
“At this time when the transition was to happen, many countries like us planned for moving to natural gas and then to renewable energy. But the transition arrangement which we wanted to do with natural gas is now facing a challenge in that the supplies are lesser and the cost is spiking,” she said.
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