By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -There is enough supply of Russian oil for Indian refiners in the market as Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy facilities have reduced its refining capacity and made more crude available, a government official told Reuters on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded India stop buying Russian oil, and Washington doubled tariffs to as much as 50% on U.S. imports from India when it refused to comply.
But Indian refiners continue to buy Russian oil, said the official, who did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
India is the top buyer of Russian seaborne oil, sold at a discount after some Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Discounts for Russian Urals crude delivered to India have, however, narrowed to about $2-2.50 per barrel below dated Brent for November loading, trade sources said, from discounts of $20–$25 per barrel when the war began in February 2022.
Ukrainian attacks on refineries and export pipelines have reduced Russian oil refining by almost a fifth on certain days and cut exports from key ports, pushing Moscow close to reducing its oil production.
Russia’s refinery outages in September surpassed those in August, due to Ukraine’s drone attacks .
Indian refiners are also looking at buying more oil and liquefied petroleum gas from the United States, the first source said, adding that this would depend on the outcome of New Delhi’s trade negotiations with Washington.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Kevin Liffey)
