As the US and Europe try to isolate Moscow over its action in Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trusted lieutenant Igor Sechin today courted top Indian officials, offering to ship its vast crude oil reserves and stakes in oil and gas acreages.

Sechin, who heads Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company, led a delegation of about two-dozen officials to meet Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra seeking to expand ties with New Delhi.

“India is a very important country for Russia.  ..

economic times

15 Comments on "Russia offers India crude oil supplies, stakes in blocks"

Plantagenet on Tue, 25th Mar 2014 11:37 pm 



If India partners up with Russia, then other third world countries will follow suit, and that will pretty much be the end of the weak and ineffectual sanctions regime that the weak and ineffectual President Obama has been trying to apply against Russia.

Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 12:49 am 



OK, one basket case economy jumping in bed with another. Sounds like a match made in heaven!

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/forex/article-7-reasons-why-india-is-staring-at-a-currency-crisis-326532
The Indian economy is in a dangerous position today and the situation can potentially spiral out of control. Here’s how. India’s current account deficit has exploded 1125 per cent since 2007, going from $8 billion to $90 billion. In other words, India is importing $90 billion more than it is exporting. Currently, India’s foreign exchange reserves have gone down to $275 billion: it can only cover its current account deficit 3 times. India’s current account deficit has grown steadily throughout the past 5 years: it did not just balloon up overnight. Since many of the countries that trade with India only accept foreign currencies in return (mainly the greenback), it would seem obvious for India to continuously maintain a growing stockpile of foreign reserves through the years; alas, India did not do that. It’s no wonder that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tried to reassure the country that unlike 1991 when “the country only had foreign exchange reserves for 15 days of imports…. now we have reserves for seven months”. 7 months before we run out of reserves? That hardly sounds reassuring. (Also read: PM highlights bright side of crashing rupee)

Makati1 on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 2:43 am 



If there is a failed, “basket case”, it is the US of A., closely followed by Europe and Japan. The US is a few centuries old. China and India are at least five thousand years of continuous civilizations. The US natives were basically hunter-gatherers at that time. Ditto for Europe.

I see this as a match that could be of benefit to all three countries: Russia, China, and India, because, as Plantagenet says, that will open up all the other countries that want to escape from the dollar.

India is not printing over $1,000,000,000,000.00 per year to pay their bills and keep their people from toppling the government like a certain North American country is and has been for years.

Plus, it is a different culture. That is what is missed in some comments here. Americans tend to think like Americans and not like Chinese or Indians or Russians. Such a small percent of Americans actually see how the rest of the world lives and cannot imagine anything different than the greed and waste of their own country.

And, no, a one or two week vacation to a foreign country does NOT count. You only see the tourist version of that country. You have to live there and interact with the locals for months or years to get a real picture of that country and it’s possibilities. And, it has to have been in the last 5-10 years as the world has changed dramatically in that period. A ‘Vietnam War’ vision is so obsolete as to be funny. Too many visited these countries 30-50-70 years ago as soldiers and think they know them today…lol.

Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 3:18 am 



Yeap, Makati, all your horses are looking poor in the big race. Now the basket case you defend is India. My, My, now you choose a country in serious serious overshoot in all areas of importance food, water, and energy. With a population that will soon rival China and with much less geography. Not only that but with an unhappy neighbor to the west that could be toppled by fanatics and send some missiles flying. You love to talk about Nuk war well there you go India and Pakki. China, Russia, and India are your poster girls. They don’t look pretty to me. Naw, aint goin to buy the propagandist ideologue crap on how bad the US is and how wonderful your poster girls are. “And” your acting like you know the world better than others. I don’t see it from your discussions. How else are you going to prove it other than what you write here on this board? Sorry, I don’t buy your message because it does not add up. It get more desperate the harder you try to defend and support it.

Arthur on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 6:27 am 



Russia courting India, just in case Europe won’t be able to wrestle itself free from Washington’s grip. Perfect, turn up the heat and force Europe to take decisions it is now able to carry through.

red on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 6:50 am 



it all going to depend on the world oil being at fairly stable levels which are but only going to raise to much higher levels to about 120-130. as already india foreign exchange is under huge stress and any downfall of world markets to have very huge effect on india and its ability to meet the huge increasing needs. what the chances for a world seeing a shortfall/shortages of oil as early as 2015.

Makati1 on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 8:38 am 



Davy, I will not debate your ‘patriotic’ view of America, but I can say that my world view is taken from outside the Police States of America.

No, India and China are not perfect, but, they will survive the coming storm much better than any Western nation, bar none. They may have to regress a bit but they can survive on a very small fraction of what Westerners consider necessities. If you’ve never owned a car, you don’t miss it. If you’ve never had more food than you can eat, you don’t miss it. If you don’t have a TV telling you to consume, you only buy what you need and can afford. Get my point?

So, I guess we will just have to have different views of the world. I made my decision on where to ride out the future. I think it is much better than yours but … that is only my opinion. OI guess the future will prove who is correct.

Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 10:57 am 



Makati – I am not a propagandist ideologue like you bent on a message of hatred for some unknown infraction years ago. Maybe you were bullied on the school playground. I am American and I love my country. I believe in justifiable criticism for awareness and change but soiling a country because you dislike it is not constructive criticism. It belongs on another site. This site is concerned with the truth behind predicaments of overshoot, limits of growth, and the dynamics of energy. Two of the strongest critics of the US is NR and myself but both of us also are balanced. I was scolded by DC for seeking balance but that is the nature of the scientific process. Without balance we live in a world of subjectivity. The US has serious problems and has committed huge sins no doubt. We all here have reason to criticize the leadership and the political industrial revolving door of patronage and corruption. Yet your poster child’s Russia, China, and now India have worse issues. All three are by any standard of a large countries the most corrupt in the world. Your spiel about having and not having is mute when a country is many fold over carrying capacity like India and China. Both India and china will face immediate famine in a contracted global world. Wealth inequality is among the worst in these two countries. Russia is a banana republic rich in natural resources but with an undiversified economy dependent on debt and products from abroad. What use will oil be for Russia when they are unable to get all the products they need to run their society? Russia has a political tradition of death, destruction, corruption, market manipulation, violence, and legal disregard. Some of the worst mafia in the world is Russian. I admire the Russian people for their fortitude. I love watching them patriotically drink vodka and sing songs. When all is said and done Americans will be back to sippin whiskey and singing songs with a fiddle in the background.

Arthur on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 12:55 pm 



I am American and I love my country.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But the America you love is not Washington. In fact, TPTB do everything to destroy the America you love.

When all is said and done Americans will be back to sippin whiskey and singing songs with a fiddle in the background.

http://www.crazywebsite.com/Free-Galleries-01/USA_Patriotic/Pictures_WWII_Posters_LG/Four_Freedoms_Norman_Rockwell_Painting_Freedom_From_Want-1LG.jpg

Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 1:01 pm 



Alright Arthur I will get off the defensive grass roots American bandwagon for a day or two until I get fed up again with the propagandist ideologue spew directed at all Americans including the government. Sure I detest the hijacking of my country by the devils in Washington.

rockman on Wed, 26th Mar 2014 1:03 pm 



A bit of info on the Russian/India relationship:

Indo-Russo relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Republic of India and the Russian Federation. During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union (USSR) enjoyed a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia inherited the close relationship with India, even as India improved its relations with the West after the end of the Cold War.

Traditionally, the Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defense, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism co-operation and space. These five major components were highlighted in a speech given by the Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai in Russia. However, in recent years a sixth component, economic, has grown in importance with both countries setting a target for US$20 billion in bilateral trade by 2015. In order to facilitate this target both countries are looking to develop a free trade agreement. Bilateral trade between both countries in 2012 grew by over 24%.

FriedrichKling on Thu, 27th Mar 2014 5:49 am 



Davy-

Thanks for writing one of the most mature and balanced articles I have read anywhere. I think you sum up the feeling of most Americans. It’s healthy for us to recognize our past errors and endeavor to become better as a consequence. Makati allows his hatred of the US to influence his outlook on the world, which is just as error prone as those who believe in American Exceptionalism.

Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 27th Mar 2014 10:42 am 



Friedrick, I appreciate someone else on this board that is in search of the truth and not bent on propaganda, ideology, and hatred of the US like many here. It is usually these people that have the biggest inferiority complex so they try to project strength by cheap shots. I might add they can hardly live up to these standards they preach.

Makati1 on Thu, 27th Mar 2014 12:06 pm 



Ah Fred, I do not hate the US. I do dislike the fools that have been running the country like the Nazi Germany of WW2. I would bet that if you left the US for a year and lived in a typical 3rd world country, you would see the US for what it is, a greedy, terrorist organization plundering all of the world and taking what they want by any means possible including wars started by hired thugs and fought on someone else’ territory. Only a very small percentage of Americans actually experience the horrors of war and it is now driving them to suicide, nervous breakdowns and many other mental disorders. When more of your military die of suicide in a year than die in combat in Afghanistan or one of the other war zones, you have a problem.

Davy, Hermann, MO on Thu, 27th Mar 2014 12:44 pm 



Makati – said and I reply “Ahhh, yawn” whats new with Makati today nothing….