An aerial view of the PCK oil refinery where the German ban against the import of Russian oil is planned, stands on June 29, 2022 in Schwedt, Germany. The United States has expressed concern to India that it was being used to send oil from Russia, through high seas transfers to hide its origin, to New York in violation of US sanctions, a senior banker said. India on Saturday.
Christian Ender | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The United States has expressed concern to India that it was being used to send oil from Russia, through high seas transfers to hide its origin, to New York in violation of US sanctions, a senior banker said. India on Saturday.
U.S. Treasury Department told India that an Indian ship had picked up oil from a Russian ship on the high seas and brought it to the port of Gujarat on the west coast, where it was refined and shipped, said the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India Michael. Patra.
US sanctions on Moscow for its February invasion of Ukraine restrict the export to the United States of energy products from Russia including crude oil, refined fuels, distillates, coal and gas.
“The refined product was returned to the ship and sailed without its destination. In the middle of the seas it found its destination so it reached its destination, it is going to New York,” Patra he said at an event to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence.
The US embassy in New Delhi said it had no immediate comment.
Patra’s comments are India’s first official statement on such U.S. concerns. Delhi has not imposed sanctions against Russia or condemned what Moscow calls a “special military operation” against its neighbour.
Patra said he was told that the Russian waste was processed and turned into a liquid used to make single-use plastic. He did not identify the Indian vessel or the refinery.
“So that’s how war works. It works in unusual ways,” he said.
India, the world’s 3rd largest oil exporter and buyer did not buy Russian oil in the past. But since the start of the war, Indian refiners have been getting discounted Russian oil, which is avoided by many Western countries and companies.
