Vienna, July 10 (IANS) Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Thursday said that Russia is one of the largest crude producers with over 9 million barrels per day.

In a post on X, the minister said: “Imagine the chaos if this oil, amounting to about 10 per cent of the global oil supply of around 97 million, vanished from the market. It would have forced the world to reduce its consumption, and since the consumers would be chasing the reduced supplies, the prices would’ve spiralled to over $120-130.”

Puri further added that Russian oil was never under global sanctions.

“Sensible decision makers around the world were aware of the realities of global oil supply chains and how India was only helping the global markets by buying discounted oil under a price cap from wherever we could,” he emphasised.

The Petroleum Minister further stated that some commentators who do not have an understanding of the dynamics of energy markets pass unnecessary judgments on our policies.

“India, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, has been a net positive contributor to global energy price stability, while at the same time we successfully navigated the trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability,” said Puri.

India continues to provide clean cooking gas to our 330 million households at the lowest prices in the world, “while we provide universal clean cooking to more than 103 million beneficiary families of the PM Ujjwala Scheme at just 0.4 dollars/kg or just 7-8 cents/day,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Puri emphasised India’s strong partnership with OPEC, discussing ways to ensure that oil markets remain balanced to ensure a smooth global transition into green and alternative energies.

“More than 103 million LPG connections have been provided to women from economically weaker households as a part of Prime Minister’s visionary Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), which is the world’s largest clean cooking programme,” he told the gathering at the 9th OPEC International Seminar here.

This has improved both energy access and public health outcomes. Boosted by inclusive efforts such as these, LPG coverage in India has soared from 55 per cent in 2014 to near universal access today, while LPG prices for PMUY beneficiaries in India are among the lowest globally.

–IANS

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