Mumbai, Jan 24: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that India would continue buying crude oil from Russia if it is available at a discount emphasising that the government is “committed” to buying the most economically-priced crude oil.
“We used to buy less than 0.2 per cent from Russia in February 2022. Now, we are buying 30 per cent. If it’s available at good discounts, we will buy it. If it (crude oil) is available elsewhere (at a discounted price), we will buy (from that market),” Puri, who is Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said during a media interaction here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “commitment is to make energy available round the clock in the most affordable manner, along with the transition to green energy”, the minister said.
“We are not committed to buying any quantity from anyone. We are committed to buying the most economically priced energy of a grade of crude that you (refineries) want.”
He said that the government was open to entering both long terms as well as spot deals with oil-producing countries.
“We float tenders at the point of importation. What that means is if we have a requirement for a particular route, we’ll float a tender and then whoever can supply it .. supply. Payment terms will always follow from that will follow. Sometimes special situations arise where you are able to do it, mostly transactions are denominated in Dollars and as you go forward you try some local currency,” he said.
“Energy is available in abundance supply. More and more crude is coming to the market in spite of the cutbacks that came from some of the producers,” he said.
Responding to a question on the refinery project in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, the minister said the project was not viable on account of its size (60-million metric tons per annum capacity).
“I think our position as of now is that instead of 60 million metric tons per annum we are looking at the possibility of three (refineries) into 20 million metric tons per annum for which discussions are going on behind the scenes.”
Notably, the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (RRPCL), a joint venture company, was formed in 2017 by three national oil companies, namely Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
It proposes to implement an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex on the west coast of Maharashtra.
Saudi Aramco (SA) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the two global oil and gas majors, have also expressed their intent to partner in this project.
Puri, however, said that the refining capacity is going up with the current at around 268-270-million metric tons per annum, adding that “we already have plans in motion to go up to 310-million metric tons per annum.” (PTI)
