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India said it will speed up its diversification of oil imports to hedge against any surprise output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.
« This will hurt large importers like India, who spent around $120 billion last year on the import of petroleum products, » India’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday in reference to an OPEC+ decision last week to cut output by 2 million barrels per day.
As the world’s third largest consumer and importer of oil, India buys about 85% of its needs from overseas, while its energy demands are set to rise to power its economic expansion.
« Some diversification has already happened and we will further diversify. ..there are many sources and we will not hesitate to take actions, » Puri said at GeoIndia 2022.
Output cuts could temporarily maximise revenue for OPEC+ producers, but could tip the world into recession, he added.
