Russia is on the course of becoming India’s top oil supplier this month as Moscow made quite an advance in the Asian giant’s energy sector, in a move that will likely hinder the impact of a price cap imposed by G7 countries and their Western allies, an article by The Independent revealed.

Data retrieved from the commodities tracking firm Kpler revealed that Russian India-bound crude oil loadings hit their peak in November as refiners purchased more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd), as reported by The Independent.

Preliminary data obtained by the online newspaper further revealed that Russia’s India-bound oil exports skyrocketed to 902,000 bpd by October and hit a record high of around more than 1 million bpd in November going from almost zero in January and February this year.

“This will likely result in Russia being India’s number one supplier in December,” Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, told The Independent, resulting in a first by surpassing Saudi Arabia and Iraq. 

A few days ago, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Puri said his country was not concerned about the price cap imposed by the European Union on Russian oil, stressing Delhi's intention to "continue buying crude from Moscow at the present time."

India has defended its continued purchases of Russian oil, saying it is part of a long-term bid to diversify its supplies and arguing that an abrupt halt to imports would send global prices up the roof and negatively impact domestic consumers.

On November 11, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed prior to her visit to India that the US hopes India will benefit from the price cap on Russian oil as it already stands to take advantage of it.

The remarks were delivered in light of the G7's recent decision to cap the prices of Russian oil in an effort to prevent Russia from profiteering from its oil revenues. 

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