India’s top refiner, Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), opted against buying U.S. crude in its most recent tender, instead securing 2 million barrels of West African oil and 1 million barrels of Middle Eastern supply, trade sources said on Friday.
According to the sources, the state-run company purchased one million barrels each of Nigerian oil grades Agbami and Usan from French oil major TotalEnergies, along with one million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Das crude from Shell.
The Nigerian cargoes were acquired on a free-on-board basis, while the Das crude was purchased on a delivered basis, scheduled to arrive at Indian ports between late October and early November, Reuters reported.
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The decision contrasts with IOC’s previous tender last week, when it purchased 5 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate.
In recent months, Indian refiners had taken advantage of a favorable arbitrage window to boost U.S. crude purchases through tenders.
Those imports were also seen as helping to narrow India’s large trade surplus with Washington, which recently doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.
Despite a front-month Brent-WTI differential of about $4 per barrel, sources said the landed cost of U.S. crude remained higher than competing grades, prompting IOC to turn to Nigerian and Middle Eastern alternatives in this round.
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Image Credit: Reuters
