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By Olesya Astakhova
MOSCOW, March 29 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil
producer Rosneft and India's top refiner Indian Oil
Corp have signed a term agreement to substantially
increase oil supplies and diversify oil grades delivered to
India, Rosneft said on Wednesday.
The deal was signed during a working trip to India by
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, the company said. It did not reveal the
details of the agreement.
"The parties also discussed ways of expanding cooperation
between Rosneft Oil Company and Indian companies in the entire
value chain of the energy sector, including possibilities of
making payments in national currencies," it added.
Russia has been rerouting its energy supplies from
traditional markets in Europe, which imposed wide-ranging
sanctions against Moscow following the start of what the Kremlin
calls a special military operation in Ukraine last year.
India has been the biggest buyer of Russia's benchmark Urals
grade crude in March. Deliveries to India are set to account for
more than 50% of all seaborne Urals exports this month, with
China in second place.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that
Russian oil sales to India jumped 22-fold last year, but he did
not specify the volume sold.
Rosneft said that Russia for the first time has become one
of the five largest trading partners of India as the volume of
trade between the countries reached $38.4 billion in 2022.
"Thus, the goal set by the leaders of our countries to
increase turnover to $30 billion by 2025 has been achieved in
advance," Rosneft cited Sechin, a long-standing ally of Russian
President Vladimir Putin, in the statement.
(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin;
Editing by Jan Harvey and Alexander Smith)
