00:05And we have a breaking news coming in.
00:08It seems that India has garnered another massive diplomatic release.
00:13According to Bloomberg, some Russian oil that was bound for China is being diverted as India grabs more.
00:21A Russian oil tanker that was bound for China has taken a U-turn in the South China Sea and
00:29is now rushing towards India after New Delhi began doubling down on imports from Moscow.
00:36The tanker, it's called Aqua Titan and it is set to arrive in New Mangalore on March 21st with its
00:43Ural cargo that it loaded from the Baltic seaport in late January, according to ship tracking data.
00:51The vessel originally signaled the Chinese port of Rizal as its destination before making an about face in Southeast Asian
01:00waters in mid-March, days after the U.S. gave the green light for India to temporarily increase Russian purchases.
01:08So remember, as India got that green light, India has increased its Russian oil purchase once again as India's energy
01:17needs increase.
01:19And joining us right now is Aishwarya Patil.
01:29Aishwarya, do tell us what exactly is the destination of this oil tanker and how is it going to benefit
01:37India?
01:41Well, thank you so much.
01:43So, this particular report that suggests that Russian oil, which is bound for China, has now been diverted as India
01:51is looking for more crude, of course, for its energy security.
01:55Now, this particular tanker in question was bound to China and it has made a U-turn for the South
02:02China Sea.
02:04And as far as India's crude imports is concerned, the government has made it very clear that we will source
02:10from every country and every supplier possible in order to diversify our crude supply, be it Russia or any other
02:19crude supplying nations.
02:20This particular tanker that we are talking about was the aqua titan.
02:28It is set to arrive on the 21st of March on the new mangrove port.
02:34It is carrying Uruv, which is the Russian grade of crude in this particular vessel as well.
02:44And it was loaded in the Baltic port around January, according to the ship tracking agency that we are talking
02:51about.
02:52So, as far as India's crude is concerned, before the war, a couple of months ago, even before the U
02:58.S. trade deal was signed,
03:00we were importing from Russia about 1.8 million barrels per day kind of crude levels.
03:06And that seems to be coming back to that level as we look at diversifying for India's energy security.
03:14Right. And do tell us, Aishwarya, how this entire thing has come through with India trying to get its hand
03:21on more of Russian oil.
03:24America expressing that it does not have a problem with it and in fact giving India sort of a green
03:29light for it.
03:30Do tell us how India is trying to stabilize its energy markets and fulfill its energy requirements.
03:38Well, the trade deal, as we know, a couple of weeks ago, just between India and U.S.,
03:45the talks were ongoing and a broad framework was being created that India will reduce its Russian crude oil imports
03:54over time.
03:55And we saw lots of commentary even on social media platforms saying that India has agreed to go down to
04:030% Russian crude imports over time.
04:07But that stance seems to have changed since the war started, not just crude, we also have been in talks
04:15with the U.S.
04:16to give us some sort of insurance even on the freight due to the war that has increased,
04:23the freight charges that have increased, even insurance premiums during this war have gone up, have shot up.
04:31So, not just on the crude front, but also on insurance premiums, so on and so forth.
04:36As far as support and crude imports are concerned, we have been in continuous talks is what has been clear
04:45from the last couple of engagements
04:47and some of the commentary coming in from the U.S. administrative side as well.
04:52Right. Thank you very much, Aishwarya.
04:54Now, this is key to understand that China is also facing a huge energy crisis.
04:59In the midst of this, India has managed to get a tanker heading to China to take a U-turn
05:04and come to its port.
Comments