India’s Reliance Trying To Sell Mideast Oil in Rare Offer

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd is seeking to sell cargoes of Middle Eastern oil, an unusual move for a refiner that’s normally a major buyer.

There’s heightened focus on the actions of the nation’s oil processors since the US slapped sanctions on key supplier Russia. Reliance has been trying to sell grades including Murban and Upper Zakum on the spot market to domestic and international refiners, according to people at the companies receiving those offers. They asked not to be named as they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.

India’s largest privately owned refiner, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is typically a major importer of oil from the Middle East and Russia. The recent sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies have spurred expectations that Indian processors will have to buy more barrels from countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Yet the offers suggest Reliance has ample supply for now, though the reasons why are unclear. Traders are watching Indian buying patterns closely to see whether refiners will hoover up grades tied to benchmark crude prices — potentially supporting oil futures — or find ways to sustain imports from Russia.

The Mumbai-based company has already sold a cargo of Iraqi Basrah Medium crude to a Greek buyer. It’s unclear how much crude Reliance is looking to offload in total; and it could choose to sell some but not all of the cargoes.

A Reliance Industries spokesperson didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.

Refiners in India, the world’s third-largest importer of crude, are busy trying to diversify their supply sources after Western sanctions made buying discounted Russian oil more difficult and risky.

Reliance had been Indian’s top importer of Russian crude this year, but snapped up millions of barrels from the Middle East last month following the White House penalties against Russia, which were aimed at depriving the Kremlin of funds for its war in Ukraine.

Reliance said last month that it would abide by the US sanctions, and would be adapting its operations to meet the compliance requirements. The refiner previously had a term supply deal for around 500,000 barrels a day from Russian producer Rosneft PJSC.