Most Indian Oil Refiners Skip Buying Russian Crude for December

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(Bloomberg) — India has scaled back purchases of Russian crude for arrival in December, showing that Western sanctions and trade talks with the US are having a major impact on buying patterns. 

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Five big Indian refiners haven’t placed any orders for Russia oil for next month, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named due the sensitivity of the trade. Typically, deals for crude for the following month are done by the 10th of the current month. 

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The shift in purchasing by the world’s third-largest oil importer comes after President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on all Indian imports to 50% in August, and then sanctioned Russia’s two biggest oil producers — Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC — last month. India had become heavily reliant on discounted Russian crude over the last few years, and faced US accusations that it was helping to fund the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. 

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The five refiners — Reliance Industries Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. — accounted for two-thirds of India’s imports of Russian oil so far this year, based on Kpler data.

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Their caution may be partially due to trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington. Trump said Monday the two countries were getting “pretty close” to a deal. India has pledged to buy more crude from the US as part of the talks, the people said. 

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Only two processors — Indian Oil Corp. and Nayara Energy Ltd. — have bought some Russian crude for December. IOC has purchased from non-sanctioned sellers, while Nayara, which is part owned by Rosneft, continues to rely solely on Russian crude. 

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In the spot market, traders have been offering Russian cargoes sourced from non-sanctioned suppliers at discounts of $3 to $4 a barrel, the people said. Indian buyers are, however, hesitant to purchase the crude due to a lengthy and complicated due-diligence process to ensure no sanctioned entities were involved in the supply chain, they said.

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India has sourced 36% of its crude imports from Russia this year, but finding alternatives will be made a lot easier by a looming global glut of oil. IOC sought to buy as much as 24 million barrels from the Americas for January-March delivery, and Hindustan Petroleum recently took 4 million barrels of US and Middle Eastern grades for January arrival. 

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Refiners have also reached out to traditional suppliers in the Persian Gulf to make up for the lost Russian barrels. State-owned processors met with Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. executives on the sidelines of an industry conference in Abu Dhabi last week and secured supply assurances, according to people familiar with the talks.

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—With assistance from Serene Cheong.

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