On Wednesday, Russian energy giant Rosneft announced a deal to boost oil sales to India, as Russia pursues new oil buyers in the wake of anxieties with the West over the Ukraine conflict.
The Kremlin’s decision to deploy its troops to Ukraine last February noticed Russia’s share of the European market spill as Ukraine’s supporters imposed sanctions on the Russian oil sector.
Rosneft said in a statement that its CEO Igor Sechin had traveled to India and brokered an agreement with the head of the Indian Oil Corporation. Rosneft Oil Company and Indian Oil Company signed a term agreement to substantially increase oil supplies as well as diversify the grades to India, Rosneft added in the statement.
Rosneft however did not determine the volumes specified in the agreement nor their value. The announcement comes one day after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow’s oil sales to India had surged more than twentyfold last year.
Rosneft said that representatives of the two oil firms were also concerned about the “chances of making payments in national currencies,” pointing to Russia’s efforts to de-dollarize its economy.
Russia, a major producer and key partner of the OPEC oil cartel, cut crude production by 500,000 barrels per day this month in response to the Western sanctions. Rosneft earlier this month posted a quick decline in annual profit in the wake of Western sanctions against Russia.
