An Indian state-owned refiner has swooped in to buy American oil that was en route to China but due to arrive after new tariffs kicked in.
Bharat Petroleum bought one or two cargoes of US crude that were recently diverted from its original destination of China, Refineries Director R Ramachandran said in an interview. He didn’t identify the seller, how big the shipments were, or the name of the ships. It’s possible BPCL could buy more American oil that was headed to China, he said.
Beijing announced it would impose the 5 per cent levies — the first ever Chinese tariffs on US oil — on Aug 23 and they took effect Sept 1. Six tankers carrying about 12 million barrels of US crude were on the way to China at the time of the announcement.
