India snubs US call to isolate Moscow

India’s largest oil and gas company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), bought three million barrels of Urals crude oil from Russia on Wednesday, the Deccan Herald newspaper reported citing trade sources.

According to the publication, the oil was purchased through European trader Vitol at an undisclosed discount.

This is the second time the Indian company has bought oil from Russia since Western sanctions were imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. Despite repeated calls for India to join in isolating Russia, New Delhi has been reluctant to cut ties with Moscow and even deemed the current situation an opportunity to broaden cooperation. Talks are currently being held regarding mechanisms to switch to Russian rubles and Indian rupees in a mutual trade to avoid using the euro and dollar.

On Wednesday, Indian private refiner Nayara Energy, partly owned by Russian energy giant Rosneft, bought 1.8 million barrels of Russian Urals crude from trader Trafigura, RIA reported citing trade sources and data from Refinitiv.

Last week, the Business Standard reported that India plans to import about 15 million barrels of oil from Russia this year, taking advantage of Russia’s recent offer to sell its crude at up to a 25% discount, if the buyer is ready to cover the cost of insurance and transportation.

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