Russian oil is being supplied to Sri Lanka to produce fuel at its sole refinery as the bankrupt nation faces crippling shortages of everything from gasoline to diesel, Bloomberg reported Friday.
The Russian grade of Siberian Light will be processed at Ceylon Petroleum Corp.'s refinery in Sapugaskanda, chairman told Bloomberg in a phone interview. The country's only refinery will restart for first time in over two months and produce fuel in six days, according to its power and energy minister in an earlier tweet.
Sri Lanka is the latest Asian nation to accept Russian crude after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine prompted widespread condemnation and sanctions. Most refiners in the US and across Europe have halted purchases from the Opec+ producer, prompting the cost of Russian oil to plummet, while opportunistic buying from Asian customers in China and India have surged, Bloomberg said.
A cargo of Siberian Light onboard the vessel Nissos Delos has been sitting off Colombo for close to a month, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The tanker had previously loaded crude from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Sri Lanka has been facing its worst financial crisis of the country's independent history, with shortages of everything from food to oil. Fuel supplies are so low that the government told citizens not to queue for gasoline at filling stations. The nation has been trying to come up with cash to pay for oil that's been sitting on tankers off its coast as its fuel crunch persists.
India to keep buying 'cheap' Russian oilIndia will continue to buy "cheap oil" from Russia but has not finalised terms of the discount, Reuters quoted a senior Indian government official as saying. "We will get cheap oil from Russia," the government official told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the average price at which the world's third largest oil importer buys crude is currently above $100 a barrel.
With concerns that conventional payment routes could be blocked due to Western sanctions on Moscow, including on banks, work was ongoing to set up a rupee-rouble trade mechanism to facilitate transactions, the official said.
Not surprisingly, India's Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal defended India's purchase of Russian oil. Piyush Goyal remarked on May 25 at the World Economic Forum in Davos that every government must protect its own interests. India, according to Goyal, has always sought various sources for its petroleum needs.
"Our interests or needs are no different from those of the European nations," said Piyush Goyal. "In the current situation, when inflation is at an all-time high, causing stress to people all over the world, EU and European countries continue to buy larger quantities than India ever thought of buying."
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar remarked last
month, in response to criticism of India's purchase of Russian oil, that
India's entire purchases of Russian oil for a month were less than what Europe
did in one afternoon.
US
prevents Pakistan from buying from Russia
US-client government of Shehbaz Sharif has raised the price of oil by 20% starting Friday. The drastic measure was taken so that Pakistan can receive aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that the IMF and Islamabad had reached a deal to release over $900 million in funds, once Pakistan removed the fuel subsidies and hiked prices.
Tellingly, after buying discounted oil from Russia, the Indian government reduced petrol price by 9.5 rupees per litre, Diesel price has also been reduced by 7 rupees per liter.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has praised India for buying discounted oil from Russia despite being a key member of a US-led Quad alliance. "Despite being part of the Quad, India sustained pressure from the US and bought discounted Russian oil to provide relief to the masses."
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