Indian refineries are expanding their search for raw materials, turning to suppliers from West Africa, America, and the Persian Gulf amid reduced exports from Russia.
Indian refining companies are seeking alternative sources of raw materials amid disruptions in the supply of Russian oil.
Among the potential suppliers are countries in West Africa, the USA, and the Persian Gulf, according to Bloomberg.
Indian refineries are reducing their purchases of Russian crude oil after a sharp increase in imports in previous months. One reason is Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports and oil infrastructure, complicating export deliveries.
Amid disruptions in Russian exports, Indian refineries are seeking alternative oil volumes in West Africa and America, also turning to suppliers from the Persian Gulf. However, supplies from this region remain limited due to shipping issues in the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict between the USA and Iran.
The change in purchasing structure occurs amid expected growth in oil demand in India. After completing scheduled maintenance at refineries, companies will be able to increase processing volumes.
Russia became a main oil supplier for India after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Just last month, Russian oil accounted for over half of India’s imports.
According to Sumit Ritolia, a senior manager at the analytics company Kpler, in August, Indian imports of Russian crude oil may reach about 2 million barrels per day. By comparison, in July, this figure was around 2.8 million barrels per day.
Ritolia stated that the decline is linked to normalization after active purchases in previous months, reduced availability of Russian exports, and increased competition from China.
Meanwhile, analysts expect that in the coming months, Russian oil supplies to India may again exceed the level of 2 million barrels per day.
Indian companies have already started seeking alternative supplies. Indian Oil Corp., the country’s largest refining company, announced a tender to purchase oil from America. Another tender was primarily aimed at securing raw material supplies from the Persian Gulf.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. also made emergency purchases of non-Russian oil this week.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and Black Sea ports led to disruptions in Russia’s domestic fuel market and complicated redirecting oil for export. Over the past four weeks, Russian crude oil sea exports have decreased to approximately 3.5 million barrels per day from over 4 million barrels per day in July, according to tank movement data gathered by the media.
Despite this, China is taking Russian oil that India previously bought.
