Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Credit: Reuters photo
New Delhi: A decline in India's oil imports from Russia may last only for "a brief period" as Moscow plans to boost supplies to New Delhi, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Indian journalists on Tuesday.
India, the top buyer of Russian seaborne oil, has cut crude imports from Moscow under pressure from Western sanctions. Russia is the top oil supplier to India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer.
The South Asian nation is set to lower its Russian oil purchases to at least a three-year low this month, after Washington sanctioned Moscow's top oil producer Rosneft and Lukoil.
Russia remains an important supplier of energy to India, Peskov told Indian journalists at an online media briefing on Tuesday, days ahead of President Vladimir Putin visit to India for summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trade mechanisms that cannot be affected by third countries needed to be arranged, he said, adding that Russia has experience in doing trade under sanctions.
Indian refiners, such as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, have stopped buying Russian oil.
State-run Indian Oil Corp has placed orders to buy Russian oil from non-sanctioned entities, while Bharat Petroleum Corp is in an advanced stage of negotiations for Russian oil imports.
Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, partly owned by Rosneft, is exclusively processing Russian oil after other suppliers pulled back following British and EU sanctions. Russia wants India to continue to provide support to Nayara to boost its local sale and capacity use.
Reliance Industries Ltd, which used to be the top Indian oil client of Russia, has said it loaded Russian oil cargoes "precommitted" as of October 22, and will process any parcel arriving after November 20 at its refinery that is geared to produce fuels for the local market.