Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft, will help India with its energy security efforts against the backdrop of the drone attacks on Saudi Aramco, the oil giant’s CEO Igor Sechin said at a meeting this week with India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Economic Times reports.
The attacks last weekend caused the biggest-ever disruption in global crude oil supplies, sending prices up 15%. Saudi Arabia is the second-largest crude supplier to India, which imports 80% of its crude oil and 18% of its natural gas, so is highly susceptible to sharp oil price fluctuations.
The meeting between Pradhan and Sechin comes as India’s state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) strive to secure a long-term deal for procuring crude from Russia.
The global supply situation appears grim with S&P Global Platts stating that about three million barrels per day (mbpd) of Saudi Arabian crude supply will be affected for at least a month. On Tuesday, automotive fuel prices in India saw the biggest increase since 5 July.
“The developments in energy markets, including global crude oil supplies, in the 1ight of the recent attacks on Saudi Aramco’s facilities, was also discussed. In this context, the special focus was on increase of oil supplies from Russian to Indian refineries,” the oil ministry said.
India has been urging its long-time ally Russia to consider the interest of energy-consuming nations during its engagement with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a time when the OPEC+ arrangement including Russia has extended production cuts.
