NEW DELHI: Nearly USD 400 million dividend of four Indian companies are stuck with Russian oil companies because of the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia.
According to an official of the petroleum ministry, companies including ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Indian Oil Corp are not able to repatriate the USD 300 million to USD 400 million in dividend payments since last year as Russia is out of the SWIFT global payment system.
Ever since war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, Western countries have imposed many sanctions on Russia.
A consortium comprising Oil India, Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp own 23.9% of Russia’s Vankorneft oil project and 29.9% of the Tass-Yuryakh oilfield in east Siberia.
Meanwhile, the official also said that there will be extreme volatility in the crude price on the backdrop of global factors. He said when OPEC decided to reduce production, crude price in the international market went up drastically.
However, after a month or so, the price again came down. Other factors, which can impact the price of crude, are the opening of China and weak economic growth in Europe and the US.
“We have to be prepared for full price falling, we also have to be prepared for full price going up and, therefore, to react to it on a day-to-day basis does not make sense,” said the official.
He also said cracks (a difference between crude oil and the prices of the wholesale petroleum products) on both diesel and petrol are lowest now.
The official said that the new gas pricing scheme as recommended by the Kriti Parikh committee has reduced gas prices in the country significantly and benefitted the customers. It has also impacted the sales of CNG vehicles in the country.