India steps up purchases of Libyan oil shipments
RoydadNaft – Bloomberg reported Sunday that India has turned to the spot market to secure shipments of Libyan oil, amid Washington’s efforts to choke off the flow of Russian crude into the country.
A key benchmark in the oil market, widely used to measure the strength of Middle Eastern crude against global Brent, the Brent-Dubai spread, showed that European crude is trading at a premium of only 60 cents per barrel, down from $3.90 at the end of June.
According to Bloomberg, this reflects expectations that Indian refineries will increase purchases of Middle Eastern and medium-grade crude as they pivot away from Russian Urals. The report highlighted that the oil market is now focused on shifts in supply routes, as the United States intensifies pressure on India to halt Russian energy imports in a bid to end the war in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Indian state-owned refineries have cut back on Russian crude purchases, impacting the flow of Urals scheduled for October loading, and have instead turned to the spot market for shipments from Libya, the UAE, and Nigeria.
