Insight- India’s Covid crisis threatens a global oil recovery

People wearing protective face masks wait to receive a vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre in Mumbai, India, April 26, 2021.- Reuters

INDIA, the world’s third-largest oil consumer behind the United States and China, was meant to be a major driver of oil’s demand recovery as economies reopened. But the country’s devastating health crisis has made that impossible.

Everyone from oil traders to the world’s biggest producers are panicking. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing mounting criticism over a surge in coronavirus cases that began shortly after his government declared the country was “in the endgame of the Covid-19 pandemic,” allowed large election rallies and gave the go-ahead to the Kumbh Mela religious festival that attracted an estimated 3.5 million devotees.