All Indian refineries are now refusing to accept Russian oil transported by Sovcomflot tankers due to US sanctions, further hampering trade that has flourished since the invasion of Ukraine two years ago. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
According to the newspaper's sources, private and state-owned refiners, including the largest, Indian Oil Corp. have stopped accepting cargoes if they are on Sovcomflot tankers. The sources added that refiners carefully check the ownership of each vessel to make sure it is not associated with a Russian company or other sanctioned groups.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd and Nayara Energy Ltd did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Addendum
Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control placed Sovcomflot and 14 crude oil tankers in which the Russian state-owned company has an interest on a sanctions list.
India has been a major buyer of Russian oil since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but tougher US sanctions have reduced trade between the two countries and led Indian refiners to seek more expensive oil from other regions, such as the US.
Recall
India cuts purchases of Russian oil, considers the possibility of replacing it with oil from Saudi Arabia due to payment problems and less attractive discounts.
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