Bharat Petroleum Corp. will consider buying Russian oil under long-term contracts as India strengthens its relationship with the OPEC+ producer.
India’s second-largest state refiner will evaluate long-term deals with Russia when it starts negotiating with producers this month for contract supplies, said a BPCL official who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The official was speaking on the sidelines of the India Energy Week.
The South Asian nation has become a key outlet for Russian crude since the invasion of Ukraine nearly a year ago, processing the oil into fuels that have been shipped to Europe and the US. BPCL currently buys Russian oil on a spot basis. It has no long-term deal and will negotiate supply from April to March 2024.
Russian crude has the potential to account for 22% of BPCL’s spot intake depending on refinery configurations, the official said. Currently, grades account for around 20%. The company’s annual oil consumption is about 40 million tons, of which about 90 percent is imported, the official said.
India’s Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said this week that the nation intends to use its growing purchasing power to secure favorable deals. The OPEC secretary general has invited the Indian minister to the next producer group meeting, Puri said on Wednesday.
