India and China grabbed for Russian oil

After stopping the export of oil from There are not enough raw materials for everyone in the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz and India and China have entered into competition for Russian oil, which the United States has released from sanctions until May 17.

"The competition for Russian oil between India and China has been very intense and will remain intense for June shipments," Kpler senior analyst Muyu Xu told CNBC.

According to Kpler, imports to China through the Strait of Hormuz fell 40 times in April, and in India — 10 times.

"The actual closure of the Strait of Hormuz encourages Asian countries to look for cheap oil that is easily available, and Russian oil belongs to this category," said a representative of Kpler.

In this situation, India is in a more vulnerable position, as oil reserves in China is more than 30 times more — 1.3 billion barrels. Also, the Indian authorities did not raise the price of motor fuel and demand remained the same.

"Nevertheless, Beijing needs to import crude oil to support its huge export and petrochemical industry, as well as to increase strategic reserves in case of a protracted war," Mukesh Sahdev, chief oil analyst at the energy intelligence company XAnalysts, told the American television channel.

It is known that in March, immediately after the start of the Iranian war, India set a new record for Russian oil imports. Its supplies increased to 2.25 million barrels per day and accounted for half of all purchases abroad.

Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov confirmed in an interview with the Indian NDTV channel that "India has been buying a lot of Russian oil lately" and that Moscow would like to maintain such a level of energy cooperation in the future. He described the US tariffs and sanctions as "illegitimate pressure."

"Although New Delhi needs to conclude a profitable agreement with the United States, Russian oil has become critical for India's energy security amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East," CNBC reports.

"India has been more exposed to recent shocks than China, given its heavy dependence on Middle Eastern oil and relatively low reserves," said Lin Ye, vice president of oil commodity markets at Rystad Energy.

According to her, India needs Russian oil more, but there is fierce competition from Chinese state-owned companies that "returned to the market after the lifting of sanctions."