Concerns Grow Over Russian Oil Entering Europe Via India

Import of Russian oil by India was negligible before the invasion of Ukraine due to high freight costs. But recently, India’s imports of Russian oil have increased.

Putin said this week at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, Communist China and South Africa) business summit that Russian oil supplies to Communist China and India are growing noticeably.

The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air said about 20 percent of the goods exported from Jamnagar go to the Suez Canal, indicating that they are headed to Europe or the United States. The cargoes were shipped to France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
 
However, there is no evidence that these shipments include Russian oil.Tracking Russian oil shipments to Europe via India has shown to be very difficult, and several shipments of crude will arrive at a port from different countries and be blended. Therefore, tracking a hydrocarbon is basically impossible, industry sources said.Shippers are using several tactics to hide the source of Russian oil, the sources said. Financially, paying in Chinese currency rather than the industry standard of U.S. dollar is an option. RMB-RUB transactions have surged by 1067% since Ukraine was invaded in February.

Another more niche way to hide Russian deals is to trade oil directly for other products, such as gold, food or weapons, without using currency.

For Indian Prime Minister. Narendra Modi, trade with Russia remains a political balancing act. While oil prices remain high and consumers are under pressure at the pump, the risk of a backlash from the West will be weighed against the cost of cheap oil.