‘Not dictating…’: US officials say they haven’t asked India to reduce purchase of Russian oil
The United States has not asked India to stop or reduce its oil imports from Russia, nor has it sanctioned any Indian entity for buying and refining crude oil purchased from Moscow since the beginning of its war with Ukraine, according to two senior Biden administration officials who are currently in India to visit their government and private sector counterparts. Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Anna Morris and PDO Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand are travelling to New Delhi and Mumbai from April 2 to 5. They will urge India to maintain the implementation of the oil price cap aimed at limiting profits to Russia while promoting stable global energy markets, according to the White House. “There is no restriction, we have not asked India to reduce Russian oil buying…Not dictating that no trade can be done with Russia,” Morris said while responding to a query at the Ananta Centre in the national capital. She also said once the Russian oil is refined it is technically no longer Russian oil. India’s decision to implement price cap lauded In the same event, the Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, Eric Van Nostrand, hailed India’s decision to implement price cap on Russian oil and acknowledged India’s position in the Russian oil trade, saying that the decision made Russia sell oil at discounted rates to other countries, including India. “We know that the Indian economy has much at stake in the Russian oil trade, and has much at stake from the global supply disruptions that the price cap is designed to avoid. The price cap’s goals are to limit Putin’s revenue and maintain global oil supply–essentially by creating a mechanism for India and other partners to access Russian oil at discounted prices,” he said. This comes after the US Department of Treasury issued a statement regarding the price cap on Russian oil in February this year, saying that the G7, the European Union and Australia have agreed to prohibit the import of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian origin. “The price cap is intended to maintain a reliable supply of crude oil and petroleum products to the global market while reducing the revenues the Russian Federation earns from oil after its own war of choice against Ukraine inflated global energy prices,” it added. Why is the price cap for oil important? Following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the G7 nations, the European Union, and Australia jointly implemented a price cap. This cap prohibits the utilisation of Western maritime services, including insurance, flagging, and transportation, for tankers transporting Russian oil priced at or above $60 per barrel.
Oil Surges Over $90 as UAE Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Israel
At this point Israel’s ties with key Gulf countries like the UAE are near breaking point, after only a few short years ago diplomatic normalization was hailed through Trump’s Abraham accords. But international and Israeli press reports are confirming the UAE has announced it is halting all coordination on humanitarian aid with Israel. Further, as Israeli media reports: “The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a suspension of diplomatic coordination with Israel in the wake of the death of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers in Gaza.” Simultaneously, Israel is busy putting its embassies across the world on high security alert due to the “heightened Iranian response threat” in the wake of Monday’s Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. All of this served to send Brent soaring in the last two hours, with Brent spiking above $90 for the first time since October…. With Iran vowing that its retaliation is coming at any moment, Israel’s military is scrambling for readiness, with the latest measure being to pause all home leave for all combat troops. “The IDF is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed as needed,” the Israeli military said. President Biden is meanwhile is said to be “pissed” with PM Netanyahu over the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, though Israel acknowledged that it was a “grave mistake”. So far this sounds like more mere empty words of “concern” – a talking point that’s been on repeat from the White House even as its Gaza policy continues slowly fracturing the Democratic base – but Biden is said to have pressed Bibi for “an immediate ceasefire”. The call readout further said ceasefire is needed to “protect innocent civilians” in Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation. Axios writes that Biden gave his Israeli counterpart an “ultimatum” as the US president “emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.”
India’s green hydrogen value chain a $125-billion investment opportunity by 2030: Avendus Capital
The green hydrogen value chain in India is likely to create a cumulative investment opportunity of as much as $125 billion by 2030, driven by the rising focus on sustainability, demonstrated commercial viability, expanding use-cases and a strong regulatory push, according to Avendus Capital. The biggest chunk within this opportunity is renewable energy production, the key component in the green hydrogen value chain, with an investment potential of almost $80 billion by 2030. Green hydrogen and green ammonia production offer investment opportunities worth $30 billion and $10 billion, respectively, while electrolyser production offers a $5 billion opportunity, the investment bank said in a report. “India is home to one of the cheapest renewable electricity costs globally, has abundant availability of fresh water and is emerging as a global manufacturing hub – three essential elements required for the production of green hydrogen at a competitive cost,” said Prateek Jhawar, managing director & head of infrastructure & real assets investment banking at Avendus Capital. Jhawar said that while the commercial and industrial (C&I) business model for domestic consumption of green hydrogen will drive the first set of investments in the sector, the steel industry will form the largest share of offtake contracts in the near term with the imposition of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the EU.