Pradhan asks global producers to price their oil ‘reasonably’

Seeking reasonable pricing of oil, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said oil producers should stop charging <g data-gr-id="71">premium</g> from its Asian buyers and offer better trade terms like selling oil without payment guarantee and on extended credit period. India, he said, wants to leverage its position as a big buyer to corner favourable deals in an oversupplied market. “We need good deals, that’s our constant demand. That India as a big buyer of crude oil should get <g data-gr-id="21">reasonable</g> price in future is our expectation,” he told reporters here. 

Reiterating New Delhi’s decade-old demand, he said the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is not justified in asking Asian buyers to pay more so that transportation cost to distant consumers particularly in the West can be subsidised. Pradhan said producers need to be “reasonable and responsible” in pricing of oil. 

“There is a strong feeling that Asian <g data-gr-id="17">counties</g> like India should receive Asian discount rather than paying Asian premium while making <g data-gr-id="18">bulk</g> purchase of crude. I will not hesitate to say Asian premium was historically never justified and more so not justifiable in the changed market scenario where Asian countries are the major buyers,” he said. “Any measure that erodes the advantage of geography for Asian countries and promotes a policy of subsidising oil traffic to distant destinations is not, and cannot be, in the interests of sustainable development,” he added.