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'India will buy oil from wherever it has to': Union Minister Puri

Says OPEC decision to cut oil output will not be problem for India

PTI10_01_2021_000085B Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri | PTI

Stressing that India faces no pressure from the US to cut down on energy purchases from Russia, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that India will buy crude oil from whichever country it has to.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday, Puri said that India, one of the major consumers of oil and gas, has a say in the global oil market. While the West is gradually bringing down energy purchases from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, India's crude oil imports from Russia have jumped over 50 times since April and now it makes up for 10 per cent of all crude bought from overseas. Russian oil made up for just 0.2 per cent of all oil imported by India prior to the Ukraine war.

Puri also added that the decision by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) to reduce oil output by two billion barrels a day, starting in November, will not be a problem for India. "India is not a part of OPEC. India is at the receiving end of OPEC decisions..., he said in response to a question.

“I have always traditionally taken the view, it is their sovereign right to decide what they wish to do, how much oil they want to produce and how much they want to put into the market,” Puri said when asked about the decision of OPEC countries.

Indi and the US also announced their commitment to green energy after Puri's meeting with bilateral meeting with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. During his meeting, Puri also “broached the idea” of India-US green corridor. 

-with PTI inputs

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