Indian refiners Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) and Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) have purchased cargoes of crude oil from the Middle East and West Africa, according to three trade sources on Wednesday.
MRPL bought 1 million barrels of Oman crude through a tender at a premium of about $3 per barrel to the dated Brent benchmark, the sources said. One source identified Mitsui & Co Energy Trading Singapore as the seller.
Separately, state-owned Indian Oil Corp., the country’s largest refiner by capacity, acquired 4 million barrels of West African crude to strengthen its feedstock supplies.
The purchase includes Angola’s Nemba, Saxi Batuque and Clov grades, along with Congo’s Djeno crude, with all cargoes reportedly supplied by Chevron, the sources said.
The latest deals reflect Indian refiners’ continued efforts to diversify crude imports by sourcing supplies from both the Middle East and Africa, helping secure feedstock for refinery operations amid changing global oil trade flows.
The companies involved do not typically comment on commercial oil purchases.