US Treasury sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil firms, coupled with the threat of secondary sanctions on foreign lenders dealing with them, have intensified pressure on India to scale back crude imports from Moscow.

India’s purchases from Russia still account for 33 per cent of total crude imports, but this share is likely to decline after end-November as refiners diversify towards Middle Eastern and US supplies, Nomura India said in a note. Advertisement

This will increase the cost of oil imports, but with the Russian oil discount at $1.8-2.2 per barrel, Nomura believes the direct impact would be manageable at 0.04 per cent of GDP), although the indirect impact via higher global oil prices would be more important to watch.

India could also stand to gain if this shift leads to a trad

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