Indian Refineries Scoop Up Middle East, West African Crude
Indian refineries have made significant purchases of crude oil from Middle Eastern and West African sources. Specifically, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals bought 1 million barrels of Oman crude at a premium of about $3 per barrel to the dated Brent contract. The seller was Mitsui & Co Energy Trading Singapore.
Separately, state-run Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest refiner by capacity, purchased four million barrels of West African crude from Chevron. The company bought Angolan Nemba, Saxi Batuque and Clov as well as Congo's Djeno crude. These purchases are part of the refineries' efforts to meet growing demand for fuel in India.
The companies typically do not comment on commercial trades, which suggests that these deals were likely carried out under normal market conditions.