US said India is secretly buying crude oil from Russia': RBI Deputy Governor

Even after the sanctions, the US has objected to India buying fuel made from Russian crude oil. In the news quoted by Reuters, the US Treasury Department said that an Indian ship took oil in the high seas from a Russian tanker and brought it to a port in Gujarat on the west coast and it was refined and shipped here. Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Michael Patra told that the US Treasury Department said that this transfer is happening through High C. However, the US Embassy in India has not commented on this.

The US imposed sanctions on Russia after the February invasion of Ukraine. Under this, the import of energy products of Russian origin, including crude oil, refined fuel, distillates, coal and gas, was banned.

At an event on the completion of 75 years of independence, the Deputy Governor of RBI told that the refined product was put back on that ship and it had left without any destination. Patra said he was told that Russian crude had been processed and converted into a distillate used to make single-use plastics. He did not identify the Indian ship or the refiner.

Michael Patra's statement is India's first official public reference to such American concerns. India has not joined sanctions against Russia, nor has openly condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine.

India, the world's third oil importer and consumer, has rarely bought Russian oil in the past. But since the start of the war, Indian refiners have been taking on discounted Russian oil dumped by many Western countries and companies.