MillenniumPost
Business

India not worried about G7's price cap proposal, says govt

India not worried about G7s   price cap proposal, says govt
X

New Delhi: Amid the Group of Seven (G7) nations' proposing a price cap of $60 a barrel on Russian oil exports in an attempt to limit Russia's revenue from the fossil fuels, India is not worried even if there is any disruption in the oil supply.

Sources in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said that unless there is a global oil crisis, the country will not face any alarming circumstances.

An official said on Friday, "India imports oil from 30 countries and Russia is one of them. Hence, we always have the flexibility in oil import."

The cap is supposed to take effect from Monday, the same day the European Union will impose a boycott on most of Russian oil that is shipped by the sea.

The EU was moving closer to a $60-per-barrel threshold, but negotiations were still underway. With this embargo, insurance companies and other firms needed to ship oil would only be able to deal with Russian crude if the oil is priced at or below the cap. Most insurers are located in the EU or the United Kingdom and could be required to participate in the cap.

However, the ministry sources also mentioned that India has a lot of options to move imported crude oil from Russia. "There are ships which do not belong to European owners or entities. So there are a lot of options," the official added.

Meanwhile, The G7, including the United States, as well as the whole of the European Union and Australia, are planning to implement the price cap on sea-borne exports of Russian oil on December 5.

The cap is a concept elevated by the United States since the EU first laid out plans in May for an embargo on Russian oil to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

However, during his recent visit to Russia and first, since it invaded Ukraine, India's External Affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India will continue buying Russian oil as it is advantageous for the country.

"As the world's third-largest consumer of oil and gas, a consumer where the levels of income are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to international markets," Jaishankar said in a joint press conference.

Meanwhile, Russia has surpassed Iraq and Saudi Arabia as India's largest supplier of oil.

Next Story
Share it