India-Russia Agree on LNG Resumption Talks, Oil Boost

India and Russia have reached a verbal agreement to negotiate the resumption of direct liquefied natural gas sales to India for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, officials familiar with the discussions said. The understanding came during a March 19 meeting in New Delhi between Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, with negotiations potentially concluding within weeks if pursued.

The talks reflect India's urgent need to secure energy supplies amid soaring global prices triggered by the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 and Tehran's subsequent retaliation, which included strikes on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly half of India's crude oil and liquefied natural gas imports pass through the strait, and the disruptions have led to fuel shortages, long queues at gas stations and depleted cooking gas stocks in some areas. Brent crude prices reached as high as $120 per barrel earlier this month, exacerbating pressures on the world's third-largest oil importer, which relies on foreign sources for 85 percent of its oil needs.

During the meeting, the two sides also agreed to...