Moscow: In a rare development in global politics, Russia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has started importing petrol (gasoline) from India by sea to alleviate the severe petrol shortage in its country, Reuters news agency reported.
Continuous drone attacks by Ukraine have destroyed major Russian oil refineries. This has caused petrol prices to skyrocket across 11 time zones in Russia, forcing drivers to queue for kilometres at pumps for fuel.
Supply from India: To alleviate this crisis, huge ships carrying at least 60,000 metric tonnes of petrol have already been sent to Russia from India. Russia has decided to import 4 lakh tonnes of petrol from different countries every month to ease the fuel crisis.
Russian oil is the mainstay for India, new record in June While India is buying petrol from Russia, on the other hand, Indian refineries have imported a record amount of crude oil from Russia in June.
According to ship tracking data, India bought 2.7 million barrels of crude oil per day from Russia in June. This is more than 50 percent of India’s total oil imports. It was difficult to bring oil from the Gulf countries due to the closure of the ‘Strait of Hormuz’ in the Middle East. At this time, Russia has been providing oil at a discount, which has been a huge boon for India.
This entire phenomenon is evidence of a unique economic cycle. Due to the crisis in the Middle East, India is importing crude oil from Russia at a discount. Indian companies that refine the same crude oil are now selling it back in the form of petrol to Russia, which is now reeling from the Ukraine invasion.