Indian refiners have stepped up their purchases of US crude after price drops, as Washington cracks down on the Asian nation for buying Russian barrels.
This week, state and private oil processors including Reliance Industries Ltd., Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. bought more US West Texas Intermediate crude than normal, according to traders who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak to the media. The main driver was more favorable prices for the grade, which have weakened relative to Middle East benchmarks, they said.
Reliance, IOC and BPCL didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro earlier this week cranked up pressure on India to halt its purchases of Russian oil, repeating accusations that New Delhi is funding the Kremlin’s campaign in Ukraine. The remarks came after the Trump administration doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent.
New Delhi has defended its ties with Russia and called Washington’s actions “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” It has eased, but not stopped, purchases since US criticism began to ramp up.
Source: By Yongchang Chin from Bloomberg