Oct 28, HYDERABAD (Reuters) – Indian refiners have not placed new orders for Russian oil purchases since sanctions were imposed, as they await clarity from the government and suppliers, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Some refiners are tapping the spot markets to meet their crude oil needs, said the sources, who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to media.
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Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with the new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported on Thursday, potentially removing a major hurdle to a trade deal with the U.S.
“We have not placed orders yet for fresh cargoes and have cancelled some that were booked from traders with links to the sanctioned entities,” said one of the sources.
“We need to ensure that our purchases are not linked to sanctioned entities as banks will not facilitate payments,” a third source said.
A separate source said his firm is waiting to see if it can get cargoes from non-sanctioned traders or entities.
India’s Russian oil imports between April and September fell 8.4% on year due to narrower discounts and tighter supplies, with refiners seeking more oil from the Middle East and the U.S., according to trade sources and shipping data.
Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Writing by Urvi Dugar; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala
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