Oil Sanctions Concern Spurs Asia Buyers to Seek Alternatives
- Refiners in China, India take more Middle East, Africa, US oil
- Few and costly offers, logistical risks affect sensitive flows
A refinery in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Oil refiners in India and China have increased crude purchases from the Middle East and the Atlantic Basin amid concern that further restrictions on imports from Russia and Iran may crimp access to supplies.
This week, two Indian state refiners bought up to 6 million barrels of Oman and Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude for prompt loading in February, according to traders, who attributed the purchases to a shortfall of Russian spot cargoes. Indian Oil Corp. also snapped up two million barrels of WTI Midland via a tender, according to traders with knowledge of the matter.