Nearly $100 per barrel: price of Russian oil soars in India

The price of Russian Urals crude on the Indian market has surged to $98.93 per barrel. Its discount versus Brent is now just $4.80 – the lowest level in four months.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: Earlier, two Indian companies, Indian Oil Corp. and Reliance Industries Ltd., purchased more than 30 million barrels of Russian oil following the lifting of US sanctions.

On Friday 13 March, the price of Russian oil averaged $73.73 per barrel – the highest level since July 2024.

This significantly exceeds the forecasts in Russia's 2026 budget, which assumes a price of $59 per barrel for Urals crude. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has urged domestic oil and gas producers to take advantage of the price rise in order to sell more at higher prices.

Background:

• Before the war in the Middle East began, Russian oil was being sold with its biggest discount since 2023. At the time, it was $30.62 cheaper than Brent, at $40-42 per barrel.
• Earlier, Reuters reported that the rise in oil prices would not be enough to save the Russian budget, which assumed a price of $59 per barrel. At that time, the price of Russian Urals crude had only risen to $46.10 per barrel, as US sanctions remained in force.

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