Indian state-run refiner BPCL is in talks with Rosneft to buy about 6 million metric tons (43.8 million barrels) of discounted Russian crude at a price based on the Dubai benchmark, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n
The deal would deepen India’s commitment to its now-biggest oil supplier in the wake of Western sanctions on Moscow and mark a continued shift by Rosneft to pricing its oil against the Middle Eastern benchmark used in Asia and away from the Europe-dominated Brent.<\/p>\n
Under the pending deal, Rosneft would deliver the equivalent of 6 to 7 cargoes of about 700,000 to 720,000 barrels each per month through March 2024 to Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) , according to the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.<\/p>\n
Talks are at an advanced stage for a contract, with both sides working out details including terms of payment, the sources added.<\/p>\n
BPCL and Rosneft did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
A deal, which needs approval from BPCL’s board, would further expand the share of Russian oil flowing to the world’s third-largest oil importer.<\/p>\n
Russia has become India’s top oil supplier, with a 40 per cent share, after diverting supplies away from Europe.<\/p>\n
Indian refiners, which in the past rarely bought Russian oil due to high transport costs, are snapping up crude sold at a discount after some Western entities and nations shunned purchases from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
European Union nations stopped buying Russian oil from Dec. 5 and the Group of Seven (G7) countries joined the EU in imposing a price cap on Russian crude of $60 per barrel to curb Moscow’s revenues.<\/p>\n
Russian crude sold to BPCL would be priced at a discount of $8 per barrel to the Dubai benchmark, the sources said.<\/p>\n
Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, struck a deal in April with Rosneft for up to 1.5 million metric tons of oil per month priced against the Middle East benchmark at a discount of $8 to $10 per barrel, according to sources.<\/p>\n
Rosneft has been gradually moving from the Europe-dominated Brent benchmark because Russian oil sales have mostly shifted toward Asia after Europe shunned purchases from Moscow.<\/p>\n
Both benchmarks are denominated in dollars and set by S&P Global Platts, a unit of U.S.-based S&P Global Inc.<\/p>\n
The Dubai benchmark is heavily influenced by Asian and Middle Eastern oil trading, while Brent is mostly used to price crude from Europe, Africa and South America.<\/p>\n
Russia has been rerouting its energy supplies from traditional markets in Europe to Asia, mainly India and China, since the West imposed wide-ranging sanctions, including an embargo on seaborne Russian oil imports.<\/p>\n
BPCL, like most Indian refiners, makes spot purchases of Russian oil, mostly from traders.<\/p>\n
In the new contract under discussion, BPCL aims to import various Russian oil grades including Sokol, Varandey, and Urals, the sources said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian state-run refiner BPCL is in talks with Rosneft to buy about 6 million metric tons (43.8 million barrels) of discounted Russian crude at a price based on the Dubai benchmark, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The deal would deepen India’s commitment to its now-biggest oil supplier in the wake of Western sanctions on Moscow and mark a continued shift by Rosneft to pricing its oil against the Middle Eastern benchmark used in Asia and away from the Europe-dominated Brent. Under the pending deal, Rosneft would deliver the equivalent of 6 to 7 cargoes of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-586535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oil-gas"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infralive.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}