US hopes India will take advantage of Russian oil price cap: Media
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The US and its allies in the Group of Seven rich nations aim to prevent Russia from profiting from oil.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI - India stands to gain from a price cap on Russian oil
The US and its allies in the Group of Seven rich nations aim to prevent Russia from profiting from oil after its invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, while ensuring that most of its oil continues to flow to global markets.
The G-7 nations plan to cap prices of sea-borne oil shipments from Dec 5, with a second cap on oil products from Feb 5.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and a traditional ally of Russia, has not explicitly condemned what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
India imports 85 per cent of its crude needs.
It has emerged as Russia’s second-largest oil customer after China, taking advantage of discounted Russian oil shunned by some Western buyers.
“If they want to use Western financial services like insurance, the price cap would apply to their purchases,” Ms Yellen was quoted as saying in a report published by the Moneycontrol news outlet, citing the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“But even if they use other financial services, we believe the price cap will give them leverage to negotiate good discounts from world markets. We would hope to see India benefiting from this programme.”
Ms Yellen will travel to India on Friday to participate in a meeting of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership.
She is due to hold talks with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on India’s assumption of the G20 presidency, the US Treasury said.
She will then travel to the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday for a joint meeting of G20 finance and health ministers
