Trump’s penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil
The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.
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India is navigating a tricky balancing act after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “penalty” over its continued imports of Russian oil — a trade that New Delhi appears reluctant to end anytime soon.
Despite Trump telling reporters Friday that he “heard” India would halt purchases, officials in New Delhi have remained noncommittal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the country decides its energy import sources “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”
“The Indians must be having some confusion” following Trump’s threat — a reversal from the more tolerant approach taken under the Biden administration, Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“Now we’re flipping around and saying, ‘What are you doing taking all this Russian oil?'” McNally said.
In March 2022 — a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Daleep Singh, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics in the Biden administration, reportedly said that “friends don’t set red lines” and “there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia.”
“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh said.
On July 30, Trump announced that India would face a 25% tariff beginning Aug. 1, along with an unspecified “penalty” for buying Russian oil and military equipment.
But analysts suggest that India, which is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, isn’t blinking. Reuters reported that there are no immediate changes planned to India’s long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, citing two anonymous Indian government sources that did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia has become the leading oil supplier to India since the war in Ukraine began, increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion, or a 2.5% share of total imports, to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, or 39%. According to the International Energy Agency, 70% of Russian crude was exported to India in 2024.
India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended New Delhi’s actions in a July 10 interview with CNBC, saying that it helped stabilize global prices and was even encouraged by the U.S.
“If people or countries had stopped buying at that stage, the price of oil would have gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a situation in which we were advised, including by our friends in the United States, to please buy Russian oil, but within the price cap.”
Russian oil exports had been capped at $60 per barrel in December 2022 by the Group of Seven nations, representing the world’s top economies, while the European Union had lowered the price cap to just above $47 per barrel in July.
Still, pressure is mounting. Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director at Mizuho Securities, said that the U.S. threats present a “clear and present danger” to India. He said that New Delhi is likely to remain non-committal on oil purchases as it assesses the trade-offs of this “Russia option” as a bargaining chip.
India will need to scour the global market for comparable oil bargains with Russian oil, Varathan, who is also the head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, added.
New Delhi could explore alternatives, including Iran — if an exemption from the U.S. can be negotiated — as well as a few other producers “either within or outside of the OPEC+ that have been pressured by the U.S,” Varathan said.
The OPEC+ bloc had agreed on Sunday to raise output by 547,000 barrels per day in September, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.
India is going to face a tough choice, Rapidan’s McNally said.
“Trump is serious. He’s frustrated with Putin… India is going to have a tough choice to make, but it’s hard to see them continuing to import that a million and a half barrels [of] Russian crude if Donald Trump decides to really put the whole relationship on the line over it.”
Environment
NYC’s new 15 MPH speed limit for e-bikes goes into effect next month, but cars still get a pass
New York City’s new 15 mph speed limit for electric bikes is officially set to take effect next month, in what city officials claim is a move to improve street safety. But not everyone is convinced the crackdown is targeting the real threat on the roads.
The new limit, approved earlier this year, applies to e-bikes, mopeds, and other micromobility vehicles operating in city bike lanes. Riders caught exceeding 15 mph could face warnings or citations, though the exact enforcement strategy remains murky. The NYPD says it will focus on “education first,” but given the city’s track record, that could just be the calm before the ticket storm.
The rule comes amid growing concerns from some residents and officials about rising speeds among e-bike riders, especially delivery workers who often rely on throttle-equipped bikes to meet tight deadlines. But while the new speed cap is aimed at micromobility vehicles, there’s a noticeable omission: cars, trucks, and SUVs, which continue to be allowed to travel at 25 mph – and in practice, often much faster – even though they pose exponentially more risk to vulnerable road users and are responsible for orders of magnitude more deaths each year.
It’s a move that raises eyebrows and has resulted in thousands of publicly-submitted comments that the New York Department of Transportation has seemingly ignored.
After all, the majority of traffic fatalities in New York City don’t involve e-bikes. They involve cars. And while some e-bike riders certainly ride irresponsibly, the blanket limit nearly cuts in half the more widely accepted e-bike speed limits used around the US, and doesn’t even apply to pedal bikes, which can easily exceed such speeds despite nearly identical average weights when factoring in the vehicle and rider. Not to mention, it ignores the critical role that e-bikes play in reducing traffic congestion and emissions, especially in the delivery and commuting sectors.
So while New York is slowing down its most efficient and sustainable form of urban transport, it’s letting the real heavyweights keep their speed. If the goal is safety, then it’s fair to ask: why aren’t cars being asked to go 15 mph too?
Because once again, it seems the rules are written for the powerful – not the vulnerable.
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Environment
Tesla is now buying ads on Elon Musk’s X to get people to vote for his $1 trillion compensation
Tesla is now buying advertising on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) to get Tesla shareholders to vote for his CEO compensation package worth up to $1 trillion in stock options.
Tesla, under Elon Musk’s leadership, has famously been against advertising. The CEO is even on the record saying that he “hates advertising” and that “other companies spend money on advertising and manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product.”
However, that was before he acquired Twitter, now X, which relies heavily on advertising.
After that, he started to push Tesla to do some advertising, but the company quickly stopped or greatly reduced its advertising efforts.
We reported that Tesla’s advertising effort picked back up last week, starting with a few Google ads to encourage Tesla shareholders to vote for Musk’s new unprecedented CEO compensation package worth up to $1 trillion.
The automaker is in a full-on marketing blitz to convince shareholders to vote for the package and to allow Tesla to issue more shares in exchange.
Now, Tesla is even buying social media ads to push shareholders to vote for Musk’s compensation package and they are even buying ads on Musk’s privately owned platform, X:
They are also buying ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.
As we previously reported, Tesla’s board has claimed that voting for the compensation package will determine the future of Tesla.
Musk went even further and linked his compensation package to the future of the world.
Earlier today, the CEO claimed that his compensation plan is not about money, but about control over Tesla:
It’s not about “compensation”, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots. If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future.
The CEO previously threatened Tesla shareholders not to build AI products at Tesla, despite claiming they were critical to the company’s future, if he doesn’t get 25% control over the company.
Electrek’s Take
The CEO of a publicly traded company threatens shareholders to gain control over the company and uses company funds to purchase ads that benefit his privately held company, with the goal of persuading the shareholders of the publicly traded company to give him more money.
If that’s not late-stage capitalism, I don’t know what is.
Also, I know I won’t shock anyone here, but Elon is lying about this not being about money.
If he wants to increase his percentage of Tesla shares, he could do exactly what his friend Larry Ellison did with Oracle and do long-term buybacks. It would benefit everyone, but it’s not what he wants. He wants the shiny new stock options.
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