India ranks as one of the top five exporters of refined oil products in the world. No surprise, when India upped its oil imports from Russia, and increased its sales of diesel to energy-short Europe. India can rake in profits from the soaring price of diesel and gasoline, and from the relatively lower price of oil from Russia. In March, India’s diesel exports soared to 3.37 million tons, nearly as much as the prior high of 3.4 million tons in April 2020, during COVID-19, when domestic demand plunged, allowing more exports. About 30% of India’s March diesel exports went to Europe, where “ultra-low sulfur diesel prices were $100 per ton more expensive than in Singapore” at the time, according to Jane Xie, a senior oil analyst at data and analytics firm Kpler in Singapore, as reported in Look-Travels blog in April.
So far, Europe has not shot itself in both feet, by seeking secondary sanctions against India. They may yet do that. The U.S. Treasury sent a team to India in late May, to jawbone and bully them from buying oil from Russia, but it hasn’t worked.
