India's oil refining giant increases oil imports from the Middle East amid slowdown in Russian supplies
Kyiv • UNN
Bharat Petroleum Corp is looking for alternative oil supplies from the Middle East due to the reduction in Russian imports. India's purchases of Russian oil have fallen to their lowest level since December last year due to tighter sanctions.
One of India's largest oil refineries has been forced to look for alternative and more expensive oil shipments from the Middle East to compensate for the decline in supplies from Russia, which has focused attention on changing export patterns as traders focus on the outlook for the global market in 2025, UNN writes with reference to Bloomberg.
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"We are short of three to four Russian shipments for loading in January and delivery in February," said Vijay Ramakrishna Gupta, CFO of Bharat Petroleum Corp. "We have issued tenders and secured alternative grades from Iraq, the UAE and other countries," he said.
India, as the publication notes, has become a major market for Russian oil since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has increased imports to help its rapidly growing economy. However, the country has faced a drop in supplies in recent weeks as Western powers have tightened sanctions against Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers and Russian refineries have raised rates, the newspaper writes. In addition, Moscow is also under pressure to meet OPEC+ production targets.
Although supplies from the Middle East were $2 per barrel more expensive than Russian Urals, there was no shortage of oil in the broader market, Gupta said in an interview on Tuesday. For now, BPCL has no plans to increase volumes under the annual agreements with national oil companies that will be discussed next month, he said.
"India's oil imports from Russia fell to 1.47 million barrels per day this month, the lowest since December last year, according to analyst firm Kpler," the publication points out.
