The Russian President will land on Indian soil on Thursday evening. Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign several agreements during his two-day visit to India. Many deals will be signed. By the way, many Russian ministers will also be accompanying him. There will also be a group of business tycoons in which the friend and business partner of Asia’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani will also be there. Yes. Here we are talking about a company which has a very deep relationship with Ambani or rather Reliance Industries. Also, this company has been banned globally by US President Donald Trump.
This company name is Rosneft. By refining whose oil, Mukesh Ambani supplied petrol diesel to the whole of Europe. Also, it helped in keeping India’s exports better during the period of Covid and Russia-Ukraine war. Now that the US President has imposed sanctions on Rosneft. Since then, some problems have arisen for Reliance and India. Also, they once again have to turn towards America and the Middle East. Let us try to understand this whole matter.
10 year deal was made with Reliance
Reliance, headed by Asia’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani, operates the world’s largest refining complex in western Gujarat. Reliance has signed a 10-year agreement with Rosneft to buy about 500,000 bpd in 2024. Till a few weeks ago, Reliance Industries had bought almost half of the 1.7-1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of discounted Russian crude oil sent to India. Rosneft has a major stake in it.
This deal between Russia’s largest and most valued government oil company Rosneft and Reliance Industries was the biggest energy deal till date. Whose value is more than 13 billion dollars annually. Due to Western sanctions, there was a significant decline in Russian oil prices. At one time the share of Russian oil in India’s oil basket was negligible, which has currently reached above 40 percent. Besides, Russia is also India’s largest oil supplier.
Trump had banned
Ever since Trump came to power in America. Since then he has been trying to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. As part of this effort, Trump accused India of providing fuel to Russia’s war machine. Buying more and more oil and giving dollars. Which is helping Russia to wage war against Ukraine. After these allegations, Trump also imposed 25 percent extra tariff on India for buying Russian oil. A few weeks ago, Trump also banned Russian oil company Rosneft. Due to which apart from Reliance, other refineries of the country also had to withdraw.
Eyes fixed on Putin and Modi
Now Russia has also become a very important partner for India on the oil front. In such a situation, Russia would not at all want to lose its biggest oil client due to Trump’s ban. This is the reason why officials of Russia’s Rosneft are also visiting India. After some Indian refineries stopped imports under the pressure of sanctions, Moscow wants India, its major customer of marine oil, to continue buying more. Russia is a major oil supplier to India, which is the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer.
India’s crude oil imports are set to hit their lowest level in at least three years this month as Washington tightened sanctions on Russia’s top two oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil. Among government refineries, Indian Oil Corporation is buying Russian oil from non-sanctioned entities, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation is in advance negotiations for orders. Reliance Industries Ltd, Russia’s top Indian oil customer, has said it will process Russian oil arriving after November 22 at its domestic-focused plant.