CRUDE OIL - ECONOMY
News:
EU Foreign Minister says Europe should stop entry of Indian products made from
Russian oil
What's in the news?
● Hours
before his meeting in Brussels with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar,
the European Union’s (EU) Foreign Minister, Josep Borrell, said that Europe
should not permit the entry of refined petroleum products from India that are
made from Russian oil.
● The
government reacted by denying that it was violating sanctions and said it was
not possible to fully identify the origins of petroleum products being sold in
Europe.
Key takeaways:
● According
to EU Council rules, “Russian crude, if substantially transformed in a third
country, is not treated as Russian anymore,” Mr. Jaishankar explained,
referring to EU Council Regulation 833/2014.
Reasons for Russian surpass:
● India's
appetite for Russian oil swelled ever since it started trading on discount as the West shunned it to punish Moscow for its
invasion of Ukraine.
● The Indian government has
been vehemently defending its trade with Russia, saying it has to source oil from
where it is the cheapest.
Go back to basics:
● After the U.S. and China,
India is the world’s third-largest consumer of oil, over 85 percent of which is
imported.
● India,
the world’s third-biggest oil-importing and consuming nation, has long defended
purchases of crude oil from Russia following President Vladimir Putin ordering
the invasion of Ukraine.
● The
bulk of supplies come from the Middle East and the US.
● Imports
include oil which it converts to petroleum products after refining.
● India exports petroleum
products - accounting for more than 13% of its total exports - to more than 100
countries.
● India
has taken advantage of discounted prices to ramp up oil imports from Russia at
a time when global energy prices have been rising.
Present stats (May 2023):
India
imports oil from the country as follows (top to bottom).
Top destinations of India's refined petroleum: