Oil Import | India is facing loss due to Dragon’s game, loss in purchase of petrol and diesel, know what China is playing

File Photo Mumbai: India used to get cheap crude oil from Russia last year. A discount of $15 to $20 was given on each barrel of crude oil. But now China has taken notice and Dragon has increased the purchase of crude oil from Russia. OPEC plus countries have also announced a cut in oil production. Because of this, the rebate given to India has come down from $20 to $5. This is likely to bring down the prices of petrol and diesel in the country. There has been no change in the price of petrol and diesel in the country since May last year. Oil companies last revised the prices of petrol and diesel in April last year. Then in May, the central government reduced the excise duty on petrol and diesel. China’s next step Russia attacked Ukraine last year. After that western countries banned it. After this, India started buying crude oil from Russia at a huge discount. The number of buyers of oil from Russia is increasing. So the discount for Indian refiners is shrinking. China is the world’s second largest oil buyer. China has once again opened its economy after Corona and has emerged as the largest buyer of Russian oil. Record oil import According to Chinese government data, China imported the most oil from Russia in January and February. During this, he bought 1.568 crore barrels i.e. 19.4 lakh barrels of crude oil per day from Russia. This ratio is 23.8% higher than last year. The US and Western countries have imposed a limit of $60 per barrel on Russian oil. OPEC countries have announced a cut in oil production from next month. On Friday, crude oil was up 0.65% at $78.88 per barrel. The price of crude oil in the Indian basket was $84.3 per barrel in April. An official of a state refinery company said the discount has come down to less than $10 a barrel. Currently, we are getting a discount of $8 per barrel. Last year, India bought crude oil worth $27 billion from Russia. Cheap oil from Russia helped meet India’s demand. Last year, the consumption of petroleum products in the country was 222.3 million tonnes, which is 10.2% more than in 2022. The concession provided an opportunity to state-owned refining companies to improve their gross refining margins. Also read Petrol, diesel prices will come down Due to reduction in subsidy on crude oil from Russia, there is no possibility of reducing the price of petrol and diesel in the country. Oil companies are currently engaged in making up for their past losses. Experts say that they are earning a good profit on petrol, while the profit on diesel is less than Rs 100. Assembly elections will be held in many states of the country this year, followed by general elections next year. There is a possibility of some reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel in the second half of the year.