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India’s purchases of Russian crude oil averaged $84.20 per barrel in October—the highest price the world’s third-largest crude importer has paid since the $60 price cap came into force at the end of last year, according to preliminary data from the Indian government cited by Reuters.
The price India paid for Russian oil in September was $81.24 a barrel, per Reuters estimates based on official Indian trade figures.
India has become a top buyer of Russian crude oil alongside China since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the embargoes and price cap the EU, the U.S., and the G7 imposed on Moscow in an attempt to stifle Putin’s oil revenues.
With oil prices falling in the past weeks, India would pay less for a barrel of Russian oil and is likely to boost imports of crude from Russia.
As the price of Russia’s flagship crude fell below the $60 per barrel price cap and international benchmarks slumped, India expects to increase its purchases of Russian oil, an anonymous senior government official in India told Reuters last week.
The price of Russia’s flagship crude, Urals, has dropped below the $60 per barrel price cap for the first time in months amid plunging international benchmarks.
The price of Urals crude loaded from Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Primorsk fell to $56.15 a barrel, while the price of Urals at the Novorossiysk port in the Black Sea slumped to $56.55, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing data from Argus Media.
Urals crude had been trading above the price cap since July, and reports have emerged that the West is considering toughening up the sanction enforcement on evaders of the price cap on Russian oil, almost none of which has recently traded below the ceiling of $60 per barrel.
At the end of last month, reports emerged that India was still considering whether to allow a now-sanctioned tanker carrying Russian oil to approach and dock at one of its ports—a sign that the U.S. clampdown on Russian crude trade could limit India’s ability to buy and import cheaper oil.
