Europe pays India well to buy Russian oil

As predicted by experts, Russia quite easily found a market for most of its export supplies of oil and products from it in India and China. European countries suffered more from this diversification than the Russian Federation, against which they imposed sanctions as a whole. New Delhi decided to capitalize on this situation of disagreement, and, according to statistics, Indian companies succeeded.

Local refineries have so far received an additional billion dollars in products made from cheap Russian oil that were sold to Western countries in the period after the start of the military campaign in Ukraine, but before the G7 ban on fuel imports from Russia. Cheap Russian oil and the desire of Western countries to reduce dependence on Moscow have allowed India to significantly increase alternative supplies to countries such as the Netherlands, France, the UK and the US.



According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry of India, between April 2022 and January 2023, 38,2 million tons of crude oil and 4,5 million tons of fuel oil were officially imported from Russia. If the volumes of the latter have tripled, then for oil, the department indicates that there were no deliveries from the Russian Federation earlier, and what was imported was in the form of oil products. That is an increase of more than 100%.

Such a simple scheme is known in Europe, and buyers of Indian oil and products are supposedly well aware of whose oil and derivatives they are buying from Asian companies. However, with pleasure, for almost a year, they bought Russian raw materials in huge quantities through the actual intermediary represented by India. All three sides of the specific relationship benefited.

After the introduction of the embargo on petroleum products, buyers in the EU did not stop paying India and its refineries for the purchase of Russian oil. A very simple solution was found: for those clients who care about the purity of import sanctions, Indian companies supplied oil products from Saudi or other oil, and compensated for such a natural loss with cargo from the Russian Federation, finding a balance between domestic demand, supply and export.

Thus, Russian raw materials have ceased to be a purely economic lever - it not only provides excellent earnings for local businesses, but also contributes to a closer economic and political rapprochement between India and Europe in trade and other respects, which New Delhi has long wanted, but could not do independently only with the help of one diplomacy.