With a series of tweets – more than 5 – Dharmendra
Pradhan, the Indian oil minister thanked Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations
for supplying India with LMO, liquid medical oxygen, in its hour of need.
The Gulf nations are going to continue to supply the
LMO for the next six months, according to the minister.
In reciprocating the gesture, especially from Saudi
Arabia, India’s oil refineries have restored their oil imports for June – and beyond
– reversing the decision to look for ‘alternative sources’ when the
relationship between the two countries deteriorated over the OPEC+ supply cut.
The acrimony hit a peak when Mr Pradhan and his
Saudi counterpart had a public spat over it; India cut a third of its oil
imports from Saudi Arabia, dealing a significant blow to Saudi crude oil
imports; being the third largest oil importer of the world that relies on the
Middle East for 80% of its oil needs, it was a decisive step.
On a positive note, the two countries clearly let
bygones be bygones;
Crude oil markets breathed a sigh of relief on
Saturday with the development. Although the local demand in India has plummeted
for obvious reasons, the future orders will not be hampered in light of warming
relations.
