India to Continue Buying Oil from Russian Companies, Says Hardeep Singh Puri

India is prepared to keep buying oil from Russian companies that are allowed to make such sales, since prices are cheap, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told Reuters in an interview at the GasTech conference in Houston on Tuesday. 

Western sanctions on Russia over its war with Ukraine have capped the price Russia can charge for its crude oil, and India is prepared to buy oil and gas at the lowest possible prices from anyone, said Puri. 

"If an entity is not under sanctions, there is no question I will buy from the cheapest supplier," he said at the conference. He added that India is not alone in buying from Russia as European countries and Japanese businesses are doing the same.

One of the largest consumers of energy, India imports 88 per cent of its oil needs. Oil minister expects the use of energy to grow, with growing use of natural gas and renewables. 

India has annual refining capacity of about 252mn metric tonnes and is expecting to expand it. 

"Now, projects are in place to take it up to 300 million metric tons per annum. We are brainstorming whether we should take it to 400 or 450," Puri further said.

A spike in global prices for superchilled gas after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has slowed India's adoption of natural gas. India plans to increase its gas usage to 15 per cent of the energy mix by 2030 up from 6 per cent. However, the speed of change depends on prices.

"If gas prices were to stabilize and come down then its share in our energy mix will go up," he said.

Indian state and private companies have invested in liquefied natural gas projects and will continue to look for places to invest globally. 

Puri mentioned India has held discussions with Guyana, which has over 12bn barrels of recoverable oil equivalent resources. India also is in talks with the world's five largest oil and gas companies on the possibility of them exploring for hydrocarbons in India, he said.