India grabs new oil supply to cut Mideast reliance as Opec+ keeps a check

Refiners in the third-biggest oil importer are snapping up more cargoes from outside the Middle East after India’s government urged them to diversify suppliers with the OPEC+ alliance keeping a tight rein on output.

Local processors are adding new grades and lifting more U.S. oil to pare their reliance on the Middle East, the nation’s traditional supplier. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd. became the first Indian buyer of Guyanese oil, while Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. has booked a shipment of Brazil’s Tupi for the first time.

While expanding energy demand makes it imperative for India to widen its pool of crude sources, the surprise decision earlier this month by the Organization of Petroleum Countries and its allies to extend supply curbs irked the government as prices spiked.