Crude oil futures declined on Tuesday morning even as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose more tariffs on India. Responding strongly to the US threats, India said the targeting of the country was unjustified and unreasonable.
At 9.53 am on Tuesday, October Brent oil futures were at $68.65, down by 0.16 per cent, and September crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $66.17, down by 0.18 per cent. August crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,825 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹5,836; down by 0.19 per cent, and September futures were trading at ₹5,751 against the previous close of ₹5,763; down by 0.21 per cent.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on late Monday evening rebutting the criticism against India’s energy ties with Russia, hours after Trump threatened more tariffs on India.
MEA said that the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
India has been targeted by the US and the EU for importing oil from Russia after the commencement of the Ukraine conflict. In fact, India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The US at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability, the statement said.
“India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer. They are a necessity compelled by global market situation. However, it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion,” the statement said.
In one of their Commodities Feeds last week, Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy of ING Think, and Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist, had wondered if Trump would go ahead with these sanctions and secondary tariffs.
“It’s no secret that Trump is keen to see lower oil prices. Such an action would push prices significantly higher, erasing the expected surplus in the market through 2026. Russia exports more than 7 million barrels a day of crude oil and refined products. Then there’s the potential disruption to broader trade if prohibitively high tariffs are imposed. It’s for these reasons that we don’t believe these secondary tariffs will come into effect, at least not at the 100 per cent level,” they said in their Commodities Feed.
Meanwhile, market players were of the opinion that the proposed increase in production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) would lead to increase in crude oil supplies to the world market. This also led to a decline in price of the commodity.
The OPEC+ announced over the weekend that it will implement a production adjustment of 547,000 barrels per day in September 2025 from August 2025 required production level.
August natural gas futures were trading at ₹258.10 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹256.70, up by 0.55 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), August guargum contracts were trading at ₹9,870 in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹9,899; down by 0.29 per cent.
August jeera futures were trading at ₹19,125 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday against the previous close of ₹19,175; down by 0.26 per cent.
Published on August 5, 2025