State refiners lead in Russia oil deals; RIL halts purchases

FOUR OUT OF seven largest refiners in India are now in the market for Russian crude as deep discounts push buyers to seek out non-sanctioned barrels, even as heavyweight Reliance Industries stays away.

- RAKESH SHARMA & PR SANJAI

State-run Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have bought a total of around 10 cargoes of non-sanctioned Russian crude, including Urals, over the last few days, according to people involved in the purchases.

Hindustan Petroleum, meanwhile, has been looking for supply to be delivered in January, said the people, who could not be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly.

Including Nayara Energy - which has continued to take Russian crude, even after being blacklisted by Europe - those four processors accounted for just over 60% of India's oil imports this year, according to analytics firm Kpler. The companies did not immediately respond to emailed queries.

Missing, however, is Reliance - until recently the single largest purchaser of Russian crude in India.