Indian refineries buy russian oil at discounts

State-owned oil refiners Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp have placed January orders for russian oil from non-sanctioned suppliers due to increased discounts, trade sources said.

The EnKorr edition writes about it, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

According to the report, BPCL missed the December batch purchases, but purchased four batches - two each of russian Urals and CPC oil.

According to the sources, Urals was sold at a discount of USD 6-7 per barrel compared to Brent crude.

IOC also purchased several shipments of russian oil for loading in January.

The company has been constantly purchasing cargoes that meet sanctions requirements after Washington imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil in October.

It is noted that most of the oil supplied through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system comes from Kazakhstan, but some is also supplied by russia.

Other state-owned refineries - Mangalore Refinery and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, as well as the private HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd - have stopped buying russian oil.

Nayara Energy, which is partially owned by Rosneft, refines exclusively russian oil after other suppliers refused to cooperate due to UK and EU sanctions.

Reliance Industries Ltd, the operator of the world's largest refinery complex, said it would process any shipments coming in after November 20, under the agreement with Rosneft, at its refinery focused on the Indian market.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, rRussian Urals oil was offered to Indian refineries at the lowest price, at least in the last two years after US sanctions on leading producers Rosneft and Lukoil disrupted the lucrative trade.

India's five largest oil refiners did not place orders to buy russian oil in December this year.

Their caution may be related to the ongoing trade negotiations between India and the United States.