India's BPCL buys Middle East grades to replace Russian shortfall

State-run Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp is buying Middle Eastern crude to make up for less supply of cheaper Russian oil, its head of finance Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta said in a recent interview.

Indian state refiners, which typically buy Russian oil in the spot market rather than under long-term contract, are unable to procure about 8 million to 10 million barrels of crude for January loading that they have previously seen available in the market, sources said earlier this month.

India became a top buyer of Russian seaborne oil after the European Union shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian oil accounts for more than one-third of India’s energy imports as the country has sought to take advantage of discounts on the crude.

BPCL is not getting its full Russian oil supply from the spot market, Gupta told Reuters in an interview. “There may be a shortage of two to three cargoes per month ... whatever is the shortage of Russian crude, we are purchasing that from Middle East only,” he said, adding that its recent purchases included Omani oil.