By Nidhi Verma
(Reuters) -India is likely to increase its purchases of U.S. oil and gas after U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement to maximise U.S. oil and gas production.
“There is a possibility of more energy purchase between India and U.S.,” India’s Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters on the sideline of an event.
“More U.S. energy coming into the market is welcome.”
Trump on Monday said he would immediately declare a national energy emergency, promising to fill up strategic reserves and export American energy all over the world.
During his inaugural address after being sworn in, Trump termed U.S. energy assets as “liquid gold” that would help the United States be a rich nation again.
Refiners in India, which imports over 80% of its oil, have been hit hard by a spike in global oil prices and shipping rates after Washington recently imposed sweeping new sanctions targeting Russian insurers, tankers and oil producers.
Puri said there was no shortage of oil in the market.
The world’s No. 3 oil importer and consumer became the top buyer of discounted Russian seaborne oil after the European Union shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian oil accounted for more than a third of India’s imports last year, but U.S. sanctions are tightening supply, pushing the buyer back to traditional Middle East sources.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in Bengaluru, writing by Yagnoseni Das; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Bernadette Baum)
