NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Indian refiners will issue fewer tenders for crude oil purchases on the spot market in the coming months, company sources said on Monday, as Russian supplies bounce back from sanctions-related disruptions.
Indian state refiners had all but stopped issuing spot tenders before this year as they gorged on Russian oil that has sold at a discount since some Western nations halted purchases and hit Moscow with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
But in January, the U.S. Treasury toughened its measures targeting Moscow’s energy sector, slapping sanctions on 183 vessels that had been shipping Russian oil.
Companies operating in India, including Indian Oil Corp and state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp, turned to the spot market in their scramble to replace the disrupted Russian supplies.
Three sources with Indian refiners, however, told Reuters that their companies planned to begin issuing fewer spot tenders as traders have again begun offering Russian oil shipped with non-sanctioned tankers.
The sources asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
March saw imports of Russian oil to India – the world’s third-biggest oil importer – return nearly their previous levels following a 3-month decline, as cargo deliveries resumed and some supplies were diverted from Turkey.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Joe Bavier)
