India to source most crude supplies from Gulf in near future: Hardeep Puri

India to source most crude supplies from Gulf in near future: Hardeep Puri

Most of India’s crude oil supplies will come from Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE, in the near future the world’s third largest oil importer seeks a secure and affordable energy base, India's minister of petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said.

Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by the world's third consumer nation rose in July by more than 25 per cent after Saudi Arabia lowered the official selling price in June and July compared with May. Saudi Arabia stayed at the third spot among India's suppliers.

"As far as India is concerned, I see for the foreseeable future much of our crude oil supplies will be coming from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, among others," Puri was quoted in an interview on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan.

India consumes around 5 million barrels of oil per day and this largely comes from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE.

Although oil imports from Russia declined by 7.3 per cent in July from the June levels, Moscow remained the country's second biggest oil supplier after Iraq.

Even as the European Union is mulling over a ban on Russian oil, India is gaining from the discounts offered