India to Drive Half of Global Oil Demand Growth Over Next Decade: Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin

Russia's Oil Demand Projections Highlight India's Growing Importance

At the recent St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin spoke about the significant role India will play in the global oil market over the next decade. According to Russian media, Sechin stated that India will account for about half of the global increase in oil demand over the next 10 years.

Sechin's comments were made in the context of International Energy Agency estimates, which project that India's oil consumption will reach nearly eight million barrels per day by 2035, representing a growth of 44%. This growth is expected to be more significant than the overall global increase in oil demand, which is projected to be around five per cent.

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Sechin also highlighted the economic benefits that Russian oil supplies have generated for India and China since April 2022. According to Russian media, the cumulative value of these benefits has exceeded $40 billion. The Rosneft CEO emphasized that Russia's economic partnership with India and China has helped ensure stable energy supplies and argued that Russia cannot be excluded from global supply chains.

Sechin warned that disruptions to supplies through the Strait of Hormuz could lead to higher fertilizer and food prices, with India among those most vulnerable to the impact. He noted that fertilizer prices have risen by nearly 60% in the first four months of the year, and supply disruptions, coupled with a lack of strategic reserves in affected markets, increase the risk of a global food crisis.

The St Petersburg International Economic Forum was held from June 3 to June 6, and earlier in the conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin made remarks about India's sovereignty, stating that any attempt to undermine India's sovereignty through "threats of sanctions" would "boomerang immediately" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.