Crude oil on Friday fell by more than 4% and stocks are rallying on renewed hope of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East after President Donald Trump called off planned strikes against Iran, saying a peace deal was imminent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has fallen 4.4% to $86.53 a barrel, its lowest since mid-April. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, is trading 4.5% lower. At the Asian market, oil dropped Rs 140 to Rs 8,204 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the latest monthly report of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed crude production by the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) countries declined by 1,90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 33.13 million bpd in May. The group also maintained that China, India and developing Asian economies would remain the primary engines of global demand growth.
Earlier on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar criticized the West speaking at an event in Finland’s Kultaranta. Pointing to the United States’ idea of shifting sanctions policy and revealed Washington had once encouraged India to purchase Russian crude oil to help stabilize global energy markets.
The comments stemmed from turbulent period in India-US trade ties. Last year, the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Indian exports, including penalties linked to India’s continued purchases of Russian crude
Defending India’s decision to ramp up imports of Russian oil following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Jai Shankar said New Delhi’s choices were guided by energy security and market realities rather than geopolitics.
Responding to a question accusing India of being “too sympathetic to Russia” and “too willing to buy oil from Russia”, Jaishankar said India purchased oil based on “cost and availability”.