India’s oil and gas imports guided solely by consumer interests, says MEA

India reaffirmed that its oil and gas import policy is guided solely by consumer interests and market stability, amid reports of US pressure to curb Russian crude purchases. Officials said India continues to diversify energy sources to ensure secure supplies

New Delhi: India has made it clear that the country’s import policy for oil and gas is wholly guided by the interests of the Indian consumers amid a volatile global energy market. The statement was issued hours after US President Donald Trump said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will reduce purchases of Russian crude oil.

“India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective. Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions,” according to an MEA statement.

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“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” the statement added.

On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said energy purchases from the US — largely crude oil — have fallen from $25 billion to around $12–13 billion in the past seven to eight years. “So, there is headroom of around $12–15 billion, which we can purchase without worrying about the configuration of refineries,” he said while responding to a question on whether India could step up oil imports from the US to strike a deal.

“There is a bilateral commitment, and in the discussions we are in, we have indicated very positively that India, as a country, would like to diversify its portfolio as far as energy imports are concerned. That’s the best strategy for a big buyer like India,” he explained.

Earlier, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri had pointed out that India has diversified its sources for buying oil in the global market, due to which the government is not “unduly worried” over any US crackdown on Russia’s oil exports.

Puri further stated that India’s oil purchases from Moscow had played an important role in stabilising prices in the global market. He said crude oil prices could have skyrocketed to $130 per barrel in the absence of the India-Russia oil trade when the Ukraine war began in 2022.

Before the Russia-Ukraine war, India used to buy a mere 0.2 per cent of its crude imports’ requirement from Moscow. This, today, stands close to 40 per cent. The Minister said that Russian crude was always under a price cap of $60 per barrel but never under sanctions. India continues to stay firm on its stance of not buying crude oil from a country that is under sanctions, Puri added.