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This report is from this week’s CNBC’s “Inside India” newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
If refineries are the oil industry’s children, India’s got plenty of mouths to feed — and U.S. tariff threats over Russian crude are imperiling a distinctly affordable meal ticket.
This week, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped an additional 25% of levies on New Delhi’s exports to the U.S., bringing total duties to 50%, citing India’s purchases of Russian oil. The White House leader flagged the issue in a CNBC interview on Tuesday: “They’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then… then I’m not going to be happy.”
Despite Trump’s tone, “while the U.S. is asking India to put pressure on Russia, it is following a soft approach,” Mukesh Sahdev, chief oil analyst at Rystad Energy, told CNBC by email. “What we’re seeing is that geopolitical pulls are going against oil fundamentals.”
