Rosneft holds back on signing extra oil deals with India

According to the sources, Russia’s Rosneft is not ready to sign new crude oil deals with two Indian state refiners, as it has committed sales to other customers.

Indian refiners have been snapping up cheap Russian oil, shunned by western companies and countries since sanctions were imposed against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

A lack of new term supply deals with Rosneft may drive Indian refiners to turn to the spot market for more costly oil.

 It also indicates that Russia has managed to keep exporting its oil despite increasing pressure from Western sanctions to choke Moscow’s revenue.

Drawn to the discounts offered, three Indian state refiners – Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum – opened negotiations with Rosneft earlier this year for six-month supply deals.

So far only IOC, the country’s top refiner, has signed a deal with Rosneft, which will see it buy 6 million barrels of Russian oil every month, with an option to buy 3 million barrels more. The other two refiners’ requests have since been turned down by the Russian producer.