India handling oil spike well with access to Russian and Venezuelan crude: Ashish Kumar Chauhan

India will be able to handle the global crude oil spike better as it has access to Russian and Venezuelan crude supplies and is in a “strong position” to manage the global fluctuations, said NSE CEO and MD Ashish Kumar Chauhan.

“Over the last 7–8 days, we have seen a huge increase in oil prices. Today, stock markets in Asia, including Japan and Korea, have fallen by 7–8%, and the decline over the past 2–3 days has been even larger. However, India has been able to manage the situation well. Experts attribute this to India’s access to Russian and Venezuelan crude, which allows the country to handle the situation better than other Asian countries that are more dependent on imported crude and refined products," Chauhan said at an event today.

“Broadly speaking, as long as we continue to receive oil from Russia and other countries, India remains in a strong position to manage the impact of global price fluctuations,” Chauhan added.

How prepared is India amid rising crude oil prices?

As per reports, domestic refiners have begun talks with the US, Russia and West Africa for additional crude cargoes to ensure adequate supplies factoring in the possibility of West Asian conflict continuing for a longer period.

The government also assured last week that India is well stocked with crude oil inventories to deal with any short term disruptions arising from the disruptions.

Briefing the media on the country’s preparedness in the current circumstances, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on March 3, “The country is well stocked with crude oil and inventories of key petroleum products including petrol, diesel and ATF to deal with short-term disruptions arising from the Middle East,” Puri said.

Crude oil prices witnessed a sharp spike today with the benchmark Brent crude surpassing $114 a barrel on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The light West Texas Intermediate – a sweet crude oil produced in the United States – also touched about $114 a barrel up 25% from Friday’s closing price of $90.90. Meanwhile, government sources have said there won’t be any immediate hike in prices of petrol and diesel.