India, which has a massive trade surplus with the United States, will aim to buy more American oil and LNG to reduce the surplus and avoid potential tariffs from President Donald Trump.

India is likely to significantly increase its energy purchases from the U.S.,

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Washington after a meeting between President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I think we purchased about $15 billion in US energy output,” Bloomberg quoted Misri as telling a news conference.

“There is a good chance that this figure will go up as much as $25 billion,” the Indian official added.

Ahead of the Trump-Modi meeting, Indian companies were already discussing increased purchases of oil and LNG from the U.S.

India imported a lot of American crude in 2021, but its imports have dropped since then as Indian refiners turned to the cheap Russian oil which no one in the West wants.

However, since last month’s U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, India has scrambled to reshuffle and reconfigure oil traders, insurers, and vessel owners with which it works. India wants to continue receiving the cheaper Russian oil without risking violating the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil exports.

In the LNG market, Indian Oil Corporation is in discussions to agree on a long-term supply deal with U.S. Cheniere Energy, in what could be one of many new LNG supply agreements between India and America.

Indian buyers have intensified contacts and discussions with U.S. LNG exporters to buy more liquefied natural gas from America as part of a drive to avoid U.S. tariffs that President Trump is slapping on a nearly daily basis these days.

After President Trump ended the Biden pause on permits for new LNG export projects, Indian oil firms are interested in buying more U.S. LNG, Indian Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain said at the conference in India.

“Indian oil companies are talking to U.S. companies for additional LNG sourcing,” Jain noted.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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