Russian oil finds way to Europe; India now biggest exporter of fuel to EU

India's export of fuels like diesel to the European Union jumped 58 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024, with a bulk of them likely coming from refining discounted Russian oil, according to a monthly tracker report. The EU/G7 countries in December 2022 introduced a price cap and an embargo on the imports of Russian crude oil in a bid to cripple Kremlin's revenue and create a vacuum in its funding for the invasion of Ukraine. However, a lack of a policy on refined oil produced from Russian crude meant that countries not imposing sanctions could import large volumes of Russian crude, refine them into oil products and legally export them to the price-cap coalition countries. India has become the second biggest buyer of Russian crude oil since the invasion, with purchases rising from less than one per cent of the total oil imported in the pre-Ukraine war period to almost 40 per cent of the country's total oil purchases. The rise was primarily because Russian crude oil was ...