Cecilia Rose, a spokeswoman for the US administration’s Economic Council, confirmed that China and India could buy more Russian oil than the US expects.
“Now, in particular, the oil markets are very volatile… I heard that this is partly due to the fact that China and India are buying more Russian oil than we think,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Rose welcomed the decline in oil prices, expressing his hope that “consumers will feel it at gas stations.”
For her part, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholme indicated that “The United States expects global demand for oil to pick up once China lifts its strict restrictions on the Corona virus.”
And earlier the media reported: “The Indian steel company (Tata Steel) imported 75,000 tons of Russian coal in the second half of May last year, at a time when India is increasing purchases of Russian energy resources.”
The sources indicated that “the purchase of a huge amount of Russian coal came after the Indian company announced in early May 2022 that it would stop purchasing Russian coal due to the uncertainty caused by international sanctions against Russia.”
A spokesman for Tata Steel commented: “Contracts for these imports were concluded before the company announced it was cutting off trade relations with Russia.”
Other sources indicate that China increased oil imports from Russia in May last year by 55 percent year on year, up about a quarter from April levels, and those monthly deliveries hit a record high.
Imports of Russian oil, including deliveries via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline and deliveries from the ports of Europe and the Far East to Russia, amounted to almost 8.42 million tons in May.
This is equivalent to about 1.98 million barrels per day, a quarter more than the April level of about 1.59 million barrels per day.
Source: RT + News