NEW DELHI: As benchmark Brent crude touched $111 a barrel due to supply crunch, making global markets nervous, US administration on Monday extended the sanctions waiver allowing countries to buy Russian seaborne crude. The move is likely to help soften crude prices, which will also benefit Indian refiners. State-run oil retailers are still losing Rs 750 crore a day due to sale of petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas cylinders below market prices, although the under-recovery has dropped by 25% after last Friday’s hike in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 a litre. While releasing latest numbers at a press meet Monday, govt refused to comment on the possibility of a further hike in pump prices.‘No proposal before govt to bail out oil cos over losses’The latest estimates do not include the under-recovery on jet fuel sales for domestic flights. Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in petroleum ministry, said there was no proposal before govt to bail out oil companies over losses. In a social media post, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said a temporary 30-day general licence will be issued to provide the most vulnerable nations with the ability to temporarily access Russian oil currently stranded at sea. “This extension will provide additional flexibility, and we will work with these nations to provide specific licences as needed. This general licence will help stabilise the physical crude market and ensure oil reaches the most energy-vulnerable nations,” he said on X, adding the waiver would help reroute existing supplies to countries most in need by reducing China’s ability to stockpile discounted oil. The waiver was first issued in March to release sanctioned Russian oil stranded in tankers to ease crude supply shortages and mitigate price spikes amid military conflict in West Asia and disruption in Hormuz, through which 20% of global energy supplies pass. It was extended in April. According to data firm Kpler, India purchased nearly 2 million barrels a day (mbd) from Russia in March and 1.6 mbd in April. The Indian oil basket averaged $113.49 and $114.48 a barrel in March and April, respectively. So far in May, it has averaged $106.69 a barrel. Sharma said Indian firms have been purchasing oil from Moscow based on commercial viability. “Regarding the American waiver, we have been purchasing from Russia — before the waiver, during the waiver and now as well.”
