India skeptical of oil price ceiling, envoy says

MOSCOW, 14 Sep — PRIME. New Delhi reacted to the idea of ​​setting a “ceiling” for Russian oil prices with skepticism, said Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov.

“India is very skeptical about the idea of ​​setting a price ceiling for Russian oil, although the United States is trying with all its might to involve it in its adventure. They understand that it will not work without India as one of the largest consumers. The Indians, of course, are interested in lowering world prices for energy resources “, but we are by no means sure that the plans of the Americans will work. I’m not sure that the US itself is sure of this. New Delhi knows that Russia will not trade to its own detriment,” he told RIA Novosti.

According to the diplomat, the share of “black gold” from Russia in the structure of India’s imports increased from 1.5-2% to 12-13% in 2022. The volume of deliveries in August reached one million barrels per day. Alipov stressed that at the moment the parties are conducting a substantive dialogue on the export of raw materials.

Earlier, Indian Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, commenting on the proposal to impose a price cap on Russian oil, said that India would carefully assess whether it was worth supporting this proposal. The minister added that it was still unclear which countries would take part in the proposed price cap and what implications this might have for the markets. He also indicated that he has no “moral conflict” over buying Russian oil, but has a moral obligation to consumers in India.