00:00As the war in the Middle East continues to send global oil prices higher, Derek, we're seeing this everywhere.
00:06India has said petrol and diesel prices will remain unchanged.
00:10How important is this move from the Indian government at this stage?
00:15I think it's actually very significant because as oil prices continue to spike,
00:21India is signaling that it's going to keep the prices stable.
00:24And they're probably doing this through subsidies and through other means of market manipulation.
00:30And I don't say manipulation necessarily in a bad way, but trying to figure out a way to keep the
00:38price low,
00:40at least for the time being, so that India's massive population of over 1.4 billion people,
00:46many or most of whom rely upon oil products every day, that they do not have their lives severely interrupted,
00:55right?
00:56I think there's a measure of politics here as well, right?
00:59Because, I mean, if you can't get oil to the people who need it, right, they can't fuel their vehicles,
01:04they can't go to work, right, they lose their jobs, right?
01:08There's social and political unrest that could follow.
01:10And so I think what India is doing is a temporary measure.
01:15I don't think it's sustainable over time, but it's something that can be done in the here and now
01:20to kind of soften the blow of this energy crisis.
01:23Remember, the Trump administration also gave India a 30-day waiver or exemption to import Russian oil.
01:31The truth is India has been importing Russian oil throughout.
01:34They've just been doing less of it, but now they have an approval from the U.S.
01:39to do more of it if they need to in the circumstances of the war.
01:42So everyone is trying to do unique things, creative things, to soften the blow and to avoid the worst possibilities
01:50here.
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