Indian state refiners step up non-Russian oil purchases under Trump pressure
By Nidhi Verma and Florence Tan
NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - India's biggest state refiners Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought at least 22 million barrels of non-Russian crude for delivery in September and October, trade sources said, after the U.S. pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.
Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the spot market since 2022, instead becoming one of the few purchasers of cheaper Russian crude after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They paused Russian purchases in late July after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
"As President Trump is applying pressure on the country of India, not individual entities, no doubt... there will be discussion between the government and those refiners continuing to import," said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group.
In its latest tender, IOC IOC.NS bought 2 million barrels of U.S. Mars crude, 2 million barrels of Brazilian grades, and another 1 million barrels of Libyan crude on a delivered basis, the sources said.
BP BP.L sold the high-sulphur Mars crude cargo at $1.5-$2 a barrel above September Dubai quotes, they added.
European trader Petraco sold the 1 million barrels of Libyan Sarir and Mesla crude and Totsa, the trading arm of TotalEnergies TTEF.PA, sold the 2 million barrels of Brazilian Sepia and Sururu crude, the sources said. The prices for these cargoes were not immediately available.
Those deals follow IOC's purchase of 8 million barrels of September delivery crude from the Middle East, U.S., Canada and Nigeria via tenders in the past week.
India's second biggest state refiner BPCL BPCL.NS bought 9 million barrels of oil through negotiations for September arrival, a source familiar with the purchases said.
That included 1 million barrels of Angola Girassol, 1 million barrels of U.S. Mars, 3 million barrels of Abu Dhabi Murban and 2 million barrels of Nigerian oil, he said.
Companies typically do not comment on crude deals, citing confidentiality.
The combined spot purchases by the two state refiners for September and October are equivalent to about 6% of India's crude processing in May, Reuters calculations showed.
The arbitrage economics of sending Atlantic Basin grades to Asia have also improved for Asian refiners, supporting these purchases, the sources said.
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