India wants to buy oil from Russia at a discount due to Russia’s lack of customers following sanctions

India would like to buy Russian oil at a discount to be able to compensate for the risks due to the tense geopolitical situation in the world and the decision of many buyers not to buy energy resources from Russia, Bloomberg reports.

India, one of the largest oil importers, continues to buy fuel from Russia despite international pressure and expects a price of less than $70 per barrel. The benchmark Brent oil is currently trading at around $105 per barrel.

India’s public and private refineries have bought more than 40 million barrels of Russian fuel since late February, which was 20 percent higher than all of 2021 shipments.

Exports of Russian oil and petroleum products have become very complicated due to Western sanctions against the backdrop of a ‘special operation’ in Ukraine. Oil sales problems led to a decrease in oil production in Russia by 8.7 percent in April compared to March. The volume of oil refining has been declining against the backdrop of Western sanctions as well.

The European Union is still considering measures regarding oil imports from Russia, but many European traders already refuse to purchase Russian energy carriers.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced a proposal to completely ban oil imports from Russia as part of the sixth package of sanctions.