The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated, said the text of a cable sent by American writer Mark Twain from London to the press in the United States after his obituary had been mistakenly published. One can say the same about the role of Russian crude in India’s slate, after Urals, a lynchpin of India’s oil imports, rose above the price cap set by the G7 countries this month prompting Indian government officials to presage a decline in the crude’s fortunes. Indian officials also harbour hopes of replacing discounted Russian oil with supplies from our traditional West Asian suppliers