Private-sector oil refiner Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) last week received a general licence from the United States (US) government to buy Venezuelan oil, an industry executive said.
'No one can or will bar India from pursuing its energy goals as it wishes.' 'The US FTA wording may sound more restrictive, but the underlying reality will not undermine India's sovereign energy decisions.'
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
While most analysts are expecting poor results from oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) and even in the first half (H1) of FY25, GAIL (India) could be an outlier. Upstream producers, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) could do well due to strong crude and gas prices, but refiners are likely to see weak margins and the impact of frozen prices during the election period will also be negative.
India will need to travel back in time and seek inspiration from football greats Tulsidas Balaram and Chuni Goswami to deftly dribble around and sidestep the West-imposed price cap on exports of Russian seaborne crude oil. India depends on imported oil to meet 86 per cent of its needs, of which nearly a quarter now comes from Russia. The copious flows are roughly 10 per cent cheaper than competing suppliers helping India save billions of dollars in fuel costs.
Taking advantage of a Russian offer to sell its crude oil cheap and bear the cost of insurance and transportation, India may import as much as 2 million tonnes (mt), or roughly 15 million barrels of crude, from the sanctioned nation in 2022, Business Standard has learnt. This comes after reports that Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) bought 3 million barrels of Russian Urals from trader Vitol for May delivery. This will be on cost, insurance and freight (CIF) model, where the seller incurs the costs and pays the freight, including insurance charges.
Asking India's Reliance Industries and other energy firms doing trade with Iran to choose either Tehran or Washington, US Senators have moved a bill aimed at penalising such companies.
Other shortlisted chief executives include Abdulrahman Ali Al-Abdulla of Muntajat, Peabody Energy's Gregory Boyce, Pailin Chuchottaworn of PTT Public Company Ltd, Repsol's Antonio Brufau and Ian Taylor of Vitol.
Benchmark Brent oil futures prices more than halved between June 2014 and January 2015.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances