India looks to Russia for crude after drone strike on Saudi oil facilities

Minister says volatility in international pricing a cause of concern for India

India is looking to diversified crude oil sources such as Russia amid concerns over continued supply from Saudi Arabia, following a drone attack on the country’s oil facilities last week.

The attack on September 14 affected production of about 5.7 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd), which is half of Saudi Arabia’s exports and about 5 per cent of the global supply. During 2018-19 financial year, around 40.3 million tonne (mt) of the 227 mt crude oil imports worth Rs 7.83 trillion by India came from Saudi Arabia.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan indicated on Tuesday the country was now looking to