Shafaq News / India's minister of petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said most of his country's crude oil supplies in the near future will come from the Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as it seeks a secure and affordable energy base.

Indian refiners have been snapping up relatively cheap Russian oil, shunned by Western companies and countries since sanctions were imposed against Moscow for what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

India's imports from Russian oil rose by 4.7 times, or more than 400,000 barrels per day, in April-May, but fell in July.

Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer rose in July by more than 25% after Saudi Arabia lowered the official selling price in June and July compared with May. Saudi Arabia stayed at the No. 3 spot among India's suppliers.

"As far as India is concerned, I see for the foreseeable future much of our crude oil supplies will be coming from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, among others," Puri told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan.

Although oil imports from Russia declined by 7.3% in July from the June levels, Moscow remained the country's second biggest oil supplier after Iraq.

Puri said that by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2022, India's purchases from Russia represented only 0.2%, but rose later as the global situation became "problematic".

(Reuters)