Russia ready to increase oil supplies to China, India if there is additional demand from their side - deputy PM

MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to satisfy additional demand for oil from China and India if it arises, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists.

"Always ready," Novak said when answering a question as to whether Russia plans to increase oil supplies to China and India amid the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

"Our oil is in demand. If they buy, we will sell," he said.

The day before, Novak had already commented on the situation with exporting Russian oil to India, which the U.S. government said had promised to reduce these exports. "We can see Indian politicians saying that India has a high interest in our oil again, for processing under the current terms," he said in an interview with Channel One.

After the U.S. and Israel began their attack on Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, joining together the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz is considered one of the world's most important trading routes and a key oil transit route, via which approximately one fifth of global world exports are shipped, the main buyers being countries in Asia.

Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil producer among the countries of the Persian Gulf and has since begun to seek out alternative routes to deliver the majority of its oil exports. Bloomberg has reported that the country is considering increasing exports via the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. The company has an oil pipeline with the capacity to transport around 5 million barrels per day (bpd) from oil fields in the east of the country to the coast of the Red Sea in the west. According to sources from the agency, Aramco is working to find out whether its Asian clients are prepared to collect their oil from Yanba.