India to diversify oil imports as OPEC cartel aims to hike prices

As OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Plus members gear up to cut production from November, India is aggressively looking to diversify its oil procurement sources. The OPEC Plus has decided to cut production by 2 million barrels a day.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has, however, assured the country that there will be no fuel shortage. India has also continued to purchase oil from Russia despite facing intense pressure from the West to scrap economic relations with Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

An insider also said that with inflationary pressures rising, India will be guided by its own interest and strategic autonomy to ensure that prices are contained in the domestic markets. While imports from Russia have increased, India may look to expand inbound shipment further with pricing favours.

India imports about 85 per cent of its total oil requirements and an increase in global price, therefore, has a direct impact over its import bills.

As per the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, India will contribute a quarter of the growth in global energy consumption in the coming two decades. Oil and gas major BP estimated that India’s energy demand will double, while natural gas demand is expected to grow five-fold by 2050.

The third largest consumer of oil, India’s net import bill for oil and gas was $14.9 billion in July 2022 compared to $8.0 billion in July 2021. India is importing Russian oil at a price significantly cheaper than Saudi Arabia.

Also read: India aims to step up domestic crude oil output to cut imports