Russian oil ‘advantageous’ for India – FM — RT Business News

New Delhi is seeking stable energy ties with Moscow and will continue to buy Russian oil for the benefit of India, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“It is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most favorable terms to international markets. [energy] markets”, Jaishankar said.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, has started to increase its purchases of Russian crude after Western sanctions forced Moscow to offer discounts on its exports in a bid to find new buyers.

In October, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia and Iraq to become India’s biggest oil supplier, according to energy freight tracker Vortexa. Overall crude exports to the South Asian country rose 8% month-on-month to 946,000 barrels per day, according to the report. The country accounted for 22% of India’s total oil imports in October, surpassing Iraq’s 20.5% and Saudi Arabia’s 16%.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow could increase India’s energy supply and that the two countries had « good prospects for energy cooperation », including joint projects on nuclear energy and oil and gas development in the Arctic Shelf and the Russian Far East, referring to the Sakhalin-1 Project.

Earlier, India Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) confirmed that it was looking to retain and possibly expand its 20% stake in the Russian company operating Sakhalin-1.

Talking about mutual trade, Lavrov said that « In September, trade turnover increased by 130% compared to the same period last year and reached $17 billion, » adding that countries will soon reach a revenue target of $30 billion a year.

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