Despite US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to quadruple tariffs on Indian imports, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chairman AS Sahney has affirmed that India has not stopped buying oil from Russia. Sahney said that India’s judgments about what to buy are only based on economic factors and not on the US tariffs.
Sahney said that refiners like IOC, India’s biggest oil company, buy crude oil from Russia based on “purely economic consideration,” according to a PTI report. He also said that the corporation has not been told to buy less or more because of the new tariffs. India’s monthly purchases from Russia change depending on the discounts offered on grades like Urals crude.
India became the biggest buyer of Russian oil in 2022, after Western countries put sanctions on Moscow for invading Ukraine. Last week, the US President put a 25% duty on Indian imports on top of the 25% tariff that was already in place. This brought the overall tariff to 50%. Trump added that India’s continuous purchases were “fueling the war machine.” This was in addition to a 25% tariff that had already been put in place.
Discounts on Russian oil used to be as high as US$40 a barrel, but this month they dropped to just US$1.5, which caused people to buy less. However, the reductions have already been widened to around US$2.70, which may affect future purchase decisions.