The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has purchased three million barrels of Russian Urals from energy and commodities trader Vitol making it the first purchase by the Indian refiner company since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February.
In late February, the IOC had apparently said it would acquire Russian oil on a delivered basis in order to avoid any complications related to insurance and fixing vessels and the company does not oversee any problems to paying for the cargo as oil as a commodity hasn’t been banned yet and they aren’t dealing with a sanctioned entity either.
However, the good news for India is that this commercial deal is in its favor and it is reported that Vitol sold these cargoes at a discount of $20-$25 a barrel compared to the current crude price dated by Brent.
Meanwhile, the United States has made it very clear that India buying Russian crude oil at discounted price is not a violation of sanctions.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Tuesday (March 15), “I don’t believe India) this would be violating that (sanctions).’ ‘But also think about where you want to stand when history books are written at this moment in time. Support for the Russian leadership is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact,’,”.
IOC has also bought two million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude in addition to a million barrels each of the Cameroonian Kole along with the Nigerian Forcados and Akpo.
The sanctions imposed by the West on Russia have led to many companies and countries being forced to avoid purchasing oil from Moscow and this action has depressed Russian crude to record discount levels.
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