WASHINGTON, 13 March: US President Joe Biden‘s energy advisor Amos Hochstein says the US is helping India negotiate lower prices for Russian oil.
Last month, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s leading tanker group Sovcomflot, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia also considered 14 oil tankers as its own property in which the Sovcomflot had interest. According to Reuters, this will raise concerns for India as India is the largest buyer of Russian oil.
The new restrictions and sanctions will complicate matters for India’s refinery facilities.
“I am trying to say that India should get better and lower prices instead of the current prices by changing the directions of tankers. I hope India will understand what we are trying to do.”
After the US sanctions, the Russian shipment flags are also changed because the routes that Russia was using, such as Libya or the Marshall Islands, have their registries in the state of Virginia. The main reason for these sanctions is to weaken the Russian economy due to the war in Ukraine.
