Indian state refiners ceased to buy Russian oil last week when the discounts have shrunk this month and US President Donald Trump warned against the purchase of oil in Moscow, industry sources said.
India, the third largest oil importer in the world, is the largest maritime Russian gross buyer.
The country’s state refiners – Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd – did not seek Russian crude in last week, four familiar sources with the purchase plans for refiners told Reuters.
Find out more: Trump’s new price to have an impact on the Indian economy
The IOC, the BPCL, the HPCL, the MRPL and the Federal Department of Petroleum immediately responded to the requests for comments from Reuters.
The four refiners regularly buy Russian oil on a delivered basis and have turned to cash markets for replacement supply-mainly classes in the Middle East such as Brut Murban d’Abu Dhabi and West African oil, sources said.
Private refiners Reliance Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy are the largest Russian oil buyers in India, but state refiners control more than 60% of the refining capacity of 5.2 million barrels per day of India.
On July 14, Trump threatened 100% prices on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace agreement with Ukraine.
