Delhi concerned over Russia oil output cuts
NEW DELHI : India is concerned about Russia’s successive crude production cuts to comply with the Opec+ agreement by curtailing production even from assets where Indian state-run firms are stakeholders, two people close to the matter said. “The Russians have reduced production as part of Opec+. However, India is not a part of it, yet production is being reduced wherein foreign entities are partners.
With Russian production coming down, the volume of oil available in the global market has also come down. With Iranian and Venezuelan oil off the table, the world is being starved of oil. We have raised the issue at several levels," one of the two people said on condition of anonymity.
State-run ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Bharat Petroresources Ltd, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have invested a total of $16 billion in Russia. While OVL, the overseas unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
(ONGC) Ltd, owns a 20% stake in the Sakhalin-1 hydrocarbon block, a consortium of OVL, OIL, IOCL and Bharat Petroresources own 49.9% in Rosneft’s subsidiary CSJC Vankorneft. Also, another consortium comprising OIL, IOCL and Bharat Petroresources owns 29.9% of LLC Taas-Yuryakh. A second government official, however, said India is not “unduly" worried about the development.
“Everybody will cut production because they want the price to rise, but they also need to sell. We raise it to the Russians all the time," the person said, also on condition of anonymity. India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, has voiced concerns about rising oil prices amid a precarious global economic recovery.
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