Washington, March 6 (). In a short-term effort to ease pressure on global oil markets, the United States has “approached India” to buy Russian oil held in floating storage in South Asia, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an interview with a news channel.
He said the temporary measure was being taken to quickly deliver stored crude to refineries and prevent oil prices from rising as shipping bottlenecks around the Strait of Hormuz put pressure on supply routes.
“We need to get oil on the market in the short term. In the long term, supply is abundant. There is no concern there,” Wright said.
Wright said the US administration has identified large quantities of Russian crude held in tankers near Asian markets, including oil that was originally destined for China but has not yet been picked up by buyers.
“Russia’s oil reserves around South Asia – it’s China’s, it’s just backed up,” he said.
According to Wright, Washington has approached India to buy the oil and process it in its refineries to quickly bring supplies to the market.
“We have told our friend India to buy oil and bring it to its refineries,” he said.
The strategy aims to reduce competition among global refineries for other available supplies.
“This allows the stored oil to go immediately to Indian refineries and relieves pressure on other refineries because they no longer have to compete with the Indians for those supplies,” Wright said.
The upward pressure on oil markets comes as shipping disruptions due to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have raised concerns of supply disruption. This narrow waterway between Iran and Oman is one of the most important oil transportation routes in the world.
Wright said the move involving India is part of a series of temporary measures taken to stabilize prices.
“We have a number of measures that are short-term and temporary,” he said.
He stressed that the decision does not signal any change in America’s broader policy toward Russia.
“This is not a change in any policy toward Russia. This is just a very brief policy change so we can keep oil prices under control to some extent,” Wright said.
India is one of the world’s biggest crude importers and has significantly increased purchases of Russian oil after Western sanctions altered global energy flows following the Ukraine conflict. Indian refiners have been major buyers of discounted Russian crude and export refined petroleum products to markets around the world.
The Strait of Hormuz carries about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil shipments, making any disruption or tensions in the region closely watched by energy markets. When geopolitical risks affect key shipping routes, governments and energy producers often take short-term steps to stabilize supply.
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