US, UK ramp up pressure on India, China to cut Russian oil imports

Indian officials in Washington for trade talks as US doubles tariffs on Indian imports

Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump said India had given an assurance it would stop its buying to help end the war in Ukraine.

India and China are the biggest buyers of Russian sea-borne crude, taking advantage of discounted prices Russia was forced to offer after losing sales to Europe following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

 Indian refiners are preparing to shift away from Russian oil, with a drop in purchases possible from December given orders for November have already been placed, the sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Refiners have not been formally told by the government to stop buying Russian oil, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media.

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Deeper Indian energy cooperation with the US

Indian officials are in Washington for trade talks, with the US having doubled tariffs on imported Indian goods.

US negotiators have said curbing its Russian crude purchases would be crucial to reducing India's tariff rate and sealing a trade deal.

"The current (US) administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

Trump on Wednesday said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about India's purchases of Russian oil as part of his efforts to raise pressure on Moscow to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine.

"I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he (Modi)assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia," Trump told reporters during a White House event.

"That's a big step. Now we're going to get China to do the same thing."

India's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware of any telephone conversation between Modi and Trump on Wednesday.

A senior Indian government source said that Indian refiners would cut imports of Russian oil if possible and replace them with crude from the United States.

But the source added that, if both India and China stopped buying from Russia, global prices would surge and the market would turn volatile.

Oil prices were stable on Thursday as market traders saw a potential slowdown in India's buying of Russian crude boosting demand for supply from elsewhere.

Russia accounted for 36% of India's oil imports in the six months through September, or some 1.75 million barrels per day, trade data showed.

Imports are set to rise in October to 1.9 million bpd, Kpler data showed, as Russia ramped up exports after Ukrainian drones hit its refineries.

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Russia still confident in India energy partnership

Russia said on Thursday it was confident its energy partnership with India would continue.
"Our energy resource is in demand, it's economically advantageous and practical, and I'm confident that our partners will continue to work with us," Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, referring to India.

India's Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals said it was hunting for alternative sources sold at a discount while hoping to continue buying Russian oil.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was able to supply oil at lower prices to countries that Trump is trying to persuade to stop buying Russian oil.

Peskov said the principles of free trade would be violated if such countries were deprived of the right to buy what they wanted.