India is analyzing the effects of new sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil, and will act based on how the situation develops, Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly briefing on Thursday.
The US imposed sanctions on the two companies, along with several of their subsidiaries, in late October. The European Union then officially implemented its 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, targeting over 100 tankers, as well as additional individuals and entities.
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“We are studying the implications of those sanctions,” he said. “We make decisions naturally, considering the changing dynamics of the global market,” he added.
“India is guided by the imperative to secure affordable energy from diverse sources to meet the energy security needs of our 1.4 billion people,” said the spokesman.
India, the world’s third largest oil consumer, has substantially increased its petroleum imports from Russia since 2022. As of September, Russia accounted for 34% of India’s total imports, based on data from Kpler. The country currently receives an average of 1.8 million barrels of Russian oil per day, according to analysts.
Earlier this year, Trump imposed a 25% punitive tariff on India, citing New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil as the reason. The US president accused India and China of contributing to the Ukraine conflict by buying Russian crude. The tariff was on top of an existing 25% levy imposed in August, when the two countries failed to reach a trade agreement.
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Earlier this week, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said it would continue to buy Russian crude if it does not violate US sanctions, according to media outlet Mint. “We are absolutely not going to discontinue (buying Russian crude) as long as we are complying with the sanctions. Russian crude is not sanctioned. It is the entities and the shipping lines which have got sanctions,” Anuj Jain, the director of finance at IOC said in an analyst call.
With additional input by GVS US and Intl desk