Oil marketing companies may find it tough to shift to non-Opec crude

State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) may find it hard to comply with the government’s recent order to cut crude imports from West Asia, especially Saudi Arabia, three senior OMC executives said. This has implications for costs and supplies, they said. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), the world’s largest bloc of crude exporting countries.

State-owned refiners are likely to face a challenge in attempts to find a reliable crude oil supplier, according to the three persons, all of whom requested anonymity.

They also spoke about the increased costs involved in importing non-Opec crude because of additional freight charges.