India, Russia could benefit with oil, gas deals amid Iran conflict

NEW DELHI -- Amid a global energy crisis sparked by the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, Russia is showing a willingness to boost oil and gas supplies to India, which relies heavily on imported petroleum products to meet domestic demand in the world's most populous nation with over 1.4 billion people. Even as a temporary ceasefire in Iran came into effect last week, it is unclear when prewar shipping conditions will return to the Strait of Hormuz, as U.S. President Donald Trump further complicated matters by declaring the U.S. will start blockading the critical waterway handling about 20% of the world's oil and gas shipments. It was Iran that initially closed the chokepoint at the beginning of March. For India, which imports over 85% of its crude oil consumption, the Middle East had been a key supplier of its energy requirements, as nearly half of its crude oil imports come from the region. In early April, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov visited India and met ...