Not worried about sanction threat on Russian oil, ample supply available, says Hardeep Puri

India is not ‘unduly worried’ about US President Trump imposing secondary sanctions on buying Russian oil as the global market has ample crude supply, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on July 17.

Speaking at the Urja Varta 2025, minister Puri said India has diversified its oil sources and the global market is well-supplied as several countries plan to further boost output. India buys from 40 nations currently, as compared to 27 countries in 2007.

“There is a lot of oil available in the market. Iran and Venezuela are currently under sanctions. But are they going to be under sanctions forever? Many countries including Brazil, Canada and others are ramping up output. I am not unduly worried about supplies as of now. We have diversified our sources,” said Puri.

On July 15, Trump had threatened to impose serious trade restrictions on Russia unless a peace deal with Ukraine is reached within 50 days. Trump said US tariffs on Russian exports would be increased to 100 percent, while also threatening to impose secondary sanctions on India.

On Trump’s threats, Puri said, “I have heard these threats. Some statements are made to ensure two disputants settle an issue.”

India’s oil supplies would be at serious risk if Trump goes ahead with the sanctions’ threat on Russian crude, as New Delhi sources around 40 percent of its oil from Moscow. India is dependent on imports for around 90 percent of its domestic crude oil requirements.

On the recent tensions in West Asia and the possibility of the closure of Strait of Hormuz, the minister said Indian oil refiners had at least 21 days’ inventory to navigate the situation. Puri added that any country deciding to shut an important shipping route is a highly unlikely possibility, and India was aware of that.

India’s oil trade with Russia

The oil minister said India’s current oil relations with Moscow are important for the global market, adding that purchase of Russian oil by New Delhi has led to market stabilisation.

Puri said crude oil prices could have skyrocketed to $130 per barrel in the absence of India-Russia oil trade, when the Ukraine war began in 2022.

“We did an analysis…that if more and more people were to buy from the other OPEC sources, you know, what would have happened? Prices would have got to a minimum of $130-140 a barrel. So, if we were buying from any source that we could, I think we should be applauded,” said Puri. Read More

Prior to the Russia-Ukraine war, India used to buy a mere 0.2 percent of its crude imports’ requirement from Moscow. This, today, stands close to 40 percent.

The minister added that Russian crude was always under a price cap of $60 per barrel but never under sanctions. India continues to stay firm on its stance of not buying crude oil from a country which is under sanctions, said Puri.

India’s progress in exploration activities

Puri said that the government is introducing significant changes in the legislative framework to give a boost to the exploration and production (E&P) sector of India.

The Centre has passed Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024 earlier this year. The new laws by the government are aimed to provide policy stability and promote ease of doing business in the E&P sector, inviting international oil companies to invest in India.

“Our policies earlier were wrong for the E&P sector. We started making changes like the ORD Act,” said Puri.

The minister also emphasised on the possibility of making a Guyana-like discovery in India’s Andaman oil blocks, where the state-run upstream companies are currently carrying out exploration activities.

In the Andaman blocks, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) have commenced drilling wells - initial steps of exploration—and are waiting for an oil and gas discovery in the area.

Meanwhile, ONGC signed Memorandum of Understanding with bp plc on July 17 to collaborate on drilling stratigraphic wells in India’s offshore sedimentary basins, including Andaman, Mahanadi, Saurashtra, and Bengal.

Puri also criticised upstream companies for failing to develop oil blocks awarded to them, adding that the government would take strict against them.

“In the E&P sector, we have seen companies bidding for blocks and later not developing it. There are blocks won 12 years ago and not developed until today. We are taking drastic steps towards it now. We are cancelling these (awarded blocks) now,” said Puri.

The government would award new blocks to companies under the tenth open acreage licensing programme (OALP) round this year.