India has started snapping up Nigerian crude oil as it looks to wean itself off Russian crude oil sources, following threats from President Donald Trump of the United States.
Reuters reported that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September delivery in a tender awarded to global trader, Trafigura.
The purchase is part of a broader sourcing spree that has seen Indian refiners secure millions of barrels from non-Russian sources.
President Trump cited India’s imports of Russian crude when imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India on August 6, which is due to take effect on August 28.
Reuters reported that Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought a million barrels of non-Russian crude for delivery in September and October after the US pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.
Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the spot market since 2022, instead becoming one of the few purchasers of cheaper Russian crude after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, they paused Russian purchases in late July after pressure from US President Donald Trump.
Over two million barrels of crude oil were said to have been bought from Nigeria for September and October deliveries in India.
India’s second biggest state refiner BPCL bought barrels of oil through negotiations for September arrival, a source familiar with the purchases said.
That included one million barrels of Angola’s Girassol, one million barrels of US’ Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban, and two million barrels of Nigerian oil.
In a separate report, the publication reported that India imported about 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian crude in the first half of the year, or about 37 per cent of its total, citing data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.
A breakdown showed that about 90 per cent of its Russian imports came from Russia’s European ports and was mainly Urals grade. This is a medium sour crude and it would raise challenges for Indian refiners if they sought to replace all their Urals imports with similar grades from other suppliers.