India Races to Settle Payments for Russian Oil Before U.S. Sanctions Bite

Indian state-held refiners are targeting to settle the payments for Russian oil in half the time they have taken so far, as part of efforts to complete the deals before the seven-week wind-down period in the latest U.S. sanctions ends at the end of February. Refiners are now looking to settle the payments in just two days instead of five days, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Wednesday. The outgoing U.S. Administration on Friday imposed the most severe sanctions on Russia’s oil yet, designating two major Russian…