(F.E)
India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd has bought 2 million barrels of Russian Urals for May loading from trader Trafigura, two sources familiar with the purchase said. Refiners in India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, have been snapping up Russian oil through spot deals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, taking advantage of deep discounts as other buyers back away.
BPCL and Trafigura did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The state-run refiner regularly buys Russian Urals for its 310,000 barrels per day (bpd) Kochi refinery in southern India. With BPCL’s purchase, India has so far booked at least 16 million barrels of Russian oil since Feb. 24, similar to imports in all of 2021, according to Reuters calculations. The Urals discount to dated Brent has hit a record for the post-Soviet era as some buyers shunned Russian oil . Unlike several Western countries, India has not banned Russian oil imports.
India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said India would buy Russian oil if available at a discount. “India’s overall interest is what is kept in mind … I would put my country’s national interest first, and I would keep my country’s energy security first,” she said.
