‘Nothing further from truth’: Hardeep Singh Puri slams US claim India is Russia’s oil 'laundromat'

The minister also underlined that Indian refiners process a diverse crude basket and that export volumes and refining margins remain steady.

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has defended India’s decision to purchase discounted Russian crude, arguing that the country has followed all international rules and played a key role in preventing oil prices from soaring since the Ukraine war began.

Writing in The Hindu, Puri has dismissed White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s claim that India had turned into a “laundromat” for Moscow’s oil exports.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he writes in his piece released Monday, underscoring the fact that India has been among the world’s top petroleum product exporters for decades, well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

To be noted here, India’s crude imports from Russia have soared from under 1 percent of its total supplies before the conflict to nearly 40 percent, as refiners tapped steep discounts left by Western buyers shunning Moscow.

This shift has, however, drawn criticism in Washington, with Navarro accusing New Delhi of funding Russia’s “war machine” and even labelling the Ukraine conflict “Modi’s war.”

The Oil Minister has countered that such allegations ignore the fact that Russian oil is not under blanket sanctions.

“Unlike Iranian or Venezuelan crude, Russian oil is subject to a G7 and EU price-cap system designed to maintain flows while capping revenues. Every Indian transaction has used legal shipping, insurance, compliant traders and audited channels,” he said.

“India has not broken rules. On the contrary, our purchases helped stabilise markets and prevented prices from spiralling," writes the minister.

The minister also underlined that Indian refiners process a diverse crude basket and that export volumes and refining margins remain steady.

He further pointed to steps taken to shield consumers from price shocks, including tax cuts, compulsory domestic sales requirements for refiners, and public-sector oil firms absorbing up to Rs 10 per litre losses on diesel.

“These measures ensured households saw stable prices and no retail outlet ran dry,” he notes.

Highlighting Russia’s importance to global supply, Puri added, “There is no substitute for the world’s second-largest producer supplying nearly 10 per cent of global oil. India’s adherence to international norms averted a catastrophic $200-per-barrel shock.”

Currently, India is the single largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude, even as Europe, after banning Russian oil, turned to refined products from Indian refineries.