India's HPCL explores Russian oil alternative amid price, sanction worry

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS is scouting for alternative crudes to protect itself if it were to stop buying Russian oil due to higher prices and sanctions, its chairman Vikas Kaushal said on Friday.

Indian state refiners have paused buying Russian oil imports as it has become pricey, and President Donald Trump's threatened to impose a penalty on the South Asian nation for purchasing Russian oil.

Trump has decided to impose an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi's continued imports of Russian oil in a move that sharply escalated tensions between the two nations after trade talks reached a deadlock.

Kaushal said that while there was no official directive from the government regarding the purchase of Russian oil, HPCL's Russian oil intake in the June quarter fell to 13.2% due to narrowing discounts.

"It's not because of any geopolitical reason. It was an economic decision based on what we needed to run in our refineries," Kaushal told an analyst call.

HPCL remains open to buying Russian oil if it becomes competitively priced again, he said, adding the company would be able to absorb the financial loss for not processing Russian oil as it has already cut its Russian oil processing.

HPCL directly controls 490,000 barrels per day refining capacity, and has a stake in private refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, which operates a 226,000 bpd plant in northern India.

It is also building a 180,000 bpd refinery at Barmer in the desert state of Rajasthan.

HPCL has broadened its supplier base for crude imports and streamlined its crude import strategy, sourcing 4 million barrels through a single tender instead of multiple offers.