India grapples with the new realities of the global oil market

NOTHING SHORTSWIFT of outright war and plague is as likely to tank India’s economy as much as rising oil prices. Petroleum products made up more than a quarter of the country’s overall spending on imports last year—more than for any other big economy. Could cheap Russian crude lower the bill?India has refrained from condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, even as the West has imposed sanctions. But big Russian banks have been cut off from the messaging system used for cross-border transactions and American measures have largely blocked the use of dollars, complicating trade. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, was due to visit Delhi on March 31st, after we wrote this. One item on the agenda was expected to be finding ways to work around sanctions to enable Russian oil sales to India.