We've started buying Russian oil, have bought at least 3-4 days of supply: FM

File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

India has sourced discounted crude oil from Russia and would continue to do so, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the India Business Leader Awards on April 1.

Sitharaman said it is only natural for India to look for a good deal and that the government has already started purchasing oil from Russia. She said that the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri is working on a plan to source more oil.

“We have already started buying oil from Russia; we have received three to four days of oil supply from Russia,” she said.

Russia has offered its flagship Urals grade to India at discounts of as much as $35 a barrel on prices before the war to encourage India to lift more shipments.

“I would put my national interest first and I would put my energy security first. And if there is fuel available at discount. Why shouldn’t I buy it?” the finance minister said.

Sitharaman said she was entering the new fiscal 2022-23 with cautious optimism despite the Russia-Ukraine situation. But expressed concerns over the price and availability of natural gas which may pose a challenge for energy transition plans, given the country’s commitment to climate change.

“At this time when the transition was to happen, many countries like us planned for moving to natural gas and then to renewable energy. But the transition arrangement which we wanted to do with natural gas is now facing a challenge in that the supplies are lesser and the cost is spiking,” she said.