Amid Sanctions Talk, India’s Largest Refinery Increases Non-Russian Oil Supplies

India's largest refinery has increased purchases of crude oil from the US and UAE amid international pressure over its purchases from Russia, The Gaze reports, citing Bloomberg.

The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation has purchased at least 5 million barrels of crude oil from the United States and 2 million barrels from Abu Dhabi. 

These large purchases imply relatively quick delivery by the company's standards. Moreover, earlier this week, state-owned refineries were tasked with developing plans to purchase non-Russian crude oil.

Over the past two weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose additional tariffs on Russian oil buyers and has separately accused India of potentially being economically penalized for its actions.

“We are interpreting the increased buying activity from India as a sign of diversification away from Russian supply,” stated Livia Gallarati, global crude lead at consultant Energy Aspects. “Physical players are unlikely to gamble on buying Russian barrels, especially at current high prices, even if skepticism remains over whether US President Donald Trump will follow through with these threats.”

This week, the Indian State Oil Corporation purchased 4 million barrels of West African crude and Murban crude from the UAE for delivery in the same period. 

It is supposed that India's refineries can earn about $3 per barrel by purchasing US crude instead of Murban for November deliveries. According to Gallarati, increased purchases of crude oil from the Atlantic basin are supporting the price increase.

As The Gaze reported earlier, Indian state-owned oil refiners have halted Russian crude purchases in the past week due to shrinking price discounts and increasing U.S. pressure, including tariff threats from President Donald Trump.