Indian refineries exploring legal options to purchase Russian oil — Bloomberg
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Indian state-owned refineries are actively exploring whether they can continue to accept some Russian oil shipments by relying on smaller suppliers instead of energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which are subject to US sanctions, according to Bloomberg.
Since the announcement of the latest round of US sanctions, refineries, including Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., and Hindustan Petroleum Corp., have been left out of the Urals crude oil market.
According to refinery executives, they are instead waiting for government guidance and weighing their options.
Indian refiners are trying to figure out how much oil they can buy from unauthorized organizations in Russia and at what price. They are also trying to understand how much of Rosneft's oil will be directed through other organizations.
According to Kpler, in 2024, the four companies subject to sanctions accounted for more than 80% of Russian oil imports to India.
Russian oil flows to India are expected to decline, with private refiner Reliance Industries Ltd. considered one of the hardest hit, as it has been purchasing Urals under a contract with Rosneft for most of this year.
The only exception in India may be Nayara Energy Ltd., which is backed by Rosneft and is already under EU and British sanctions. It has shown no signs of limiting Russian purchases.
Background
Recently, the US has been pressuring India to limit imports of Russian crude oil as part of efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said that the South Asian country had agreed to stop all oil purchases from Russia, although New Delhi did not confirm his comments. Local refineries generally said they would reduce, but not stop, purchases from OPEC+ producers.
Half of the tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods are in response to ongoing purchases of Russian oil. According to US officials, revenues from energy sales allow Russia to finance its war against Ukraine.
After sanctions and Western countries' refusal to buy oil from Moscow, India became the largest buyer of Russian raw materials, which are sold at a discount.
Against this backdrop, Trump said he intends to maintain tariffs on Indian imports as long as the country buys Russian oil.
