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Rejecting those claims, Puri emphasised that Russian oil has never been under blanket sanctions.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said halting oil trade from Russia would have spiralled crude prices (Image: PTI/File)
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has hit back at White House trade adviser Peter Navarro over his recent “laundromat” jibe, insisting that India has complied with all global rules in buying Russian crude and that its energy trade has stabilised world markets.
In a signed article for The Hindu, Puri dismissed accusations of profiteering, noting that India has been one of the world’s top petroleum exporters for decades. “Some critics allege that India has become a ‘laundromat’ for Russian oil. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote, without naming Navarro directly.
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Puri pointed out that India’s role as the fourth-largest petroleum exporter long predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said export volumes and refining margins remain broadly the same. “Exports keep supply chains functioning. Indeed, Europe itself turned to Indian fuels after banning Russian crude,” he said. “The volume of exports and refining margins… remain broadly the same. There is no question of profiteering.”
India’s imports of Russian oil surged from under 1 per cent to nearly 40 per cent of total crude intake after the Ukraine war, as refiners took advantage of steep discounts. While this ensured cheaper energy at home, it drew criticism from the Donald Trump administration, with Navarro accusing New Delhi of funding Russia’s “war machine.” In a series of posts last week, Navarro went further, calling the Ukraine war “Modi’s war” and claiming “India’s big oil lobby has turned the world’s largest democracy into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin.”
Rejecting those claims, Puri emphasised that Russian oil has never been under blanket sanctions. “It (Russian oil) is under a G-7/European Union price cap system deliberately designed to keep oil flowing while capping revenues,” he said. “There have been 18 rounds of such packages, and India has complied with each one. Every transaction has used legal shipping and insurance, compliant traders and audited channels. India has not broken rules. India has stabilised markets and kept global prices from spiralling.”
Puri also underlined the domestic steps taken to shield Indian households when prices spiked after the Ukraine war. “Oil PSUs absorbed losses of up to Rs 10 per litre on diesel, the government cut central and state taxes, and export rules mandated that refiners selling petrol and diesel abroad must sell at least 50 per cent of petrol and 30 per cent of diesel in the domestic market. These measures, at a considerable fiscal cost, ensured that not a single retail outlet ran dry and that Indian households saw stable prices,” he said.
Citing the indispensability of Russian supplies, Puri added: “There is no substitute for the world’s second-largest producer supplying nearly 10 per cent of global oil. Those who are pointing fingers ignore this fact. India’s adherence to all international norms prevented a catastrophic USD 200-per-barrel shock.”
A recent report by brokerage CLSA backed his claim, warning that if India halts Russian oil imports, crude prices could jump to USD 90–100 per barrel, stranding up to 1 million barrels per day — about 1 per cent of global supply — and driving inflation higher.
About the Author
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com as Chief Sub-Editor since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, includ…Read More
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com as Chief Sub-Editor since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, includ… Read More
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