Source: Indian refiners are reviewing Russian oil contracts following US sanctions

A source with first-hand knowledge of the situation said that Indian state refiners were reviewing their Russian oil trading documents to make sure no supplies would come directly from Rosneft or Lukoil following the U.S. sanctions against the companies.

Donald Trump, the U.S. president in his second term imposed sanctions against Russia related to the Ukraine for the first in his tenure. He targeted oil companies Lukoil & Rosneft in an effort to express his growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine.

According to a Wednesday press release, the U.S. Treasury gave companies until November 21, 2018 to end transactions with Russian oil producers.

Source: State refiners including Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals are reviewing the bill of lading for Russian crude that arrives after this date to ensure it does not come directly from Rosneft and Lukoil.

Requests for comments were not immediately responded to by the companies.

Trade sources claim that Indian state refiners seldom buy Russian oil from Rosneft or Lukoil directly, as they usually purchase through intermediaries.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India was the largest importer of Russian oil discounted at sea.

India imported about 1.7 millions barrels of Russian oil per day from January to September. Private refiners Reliance Industries, and Nayara Energy took the majority of barrels. (Reporting and writing by Nidhh Verma, Florence Tan, Himani Sarkar, Tom Hogue).

(source: Reuters)