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Indian oil refinery companies are now changing their crude oil procurement strategy. They are reducing purchases from Russia and insisting on importing more oil from Middle East countries. It is believed that this step can help India in making a trade deal with America and reducing tariffs. After the start of Ukraine war, in 2022, India bought cheap Russian oil in large quantities and Russia became India's largest supplier. But the western countries, especially America and Europe, expressed their displeasure on this, because they say that Russia is using the income from oil for war. Now the situation is changing. After the decisions of OPEC, the production of Middle East countries has increased, due to which the supply in the market remains good and there is not much pressure on prices. Taking advantage of this, India is increasing purchases from there.

Refiners are reducing purchases of Russian oil.

According to Reuters report, after talks held at the government level, Indian refineries have started reducing oil purchases from Russia. The agency of the Government's Petroleum Ministry is now collecting data every week on how much oil India is buying from Russia and America. Recently, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) has given a one-year tender to purchase oil from Iraq and Oman. Under this, a trading company named Trafigura will supply four cargoes to Oman every quarter from April, that too cheaper than Dubai rates. Apart from this, BPCL is also preparing to buy oil from UAE.

America angry over taking oil from Russia

America already wants to reduce trade deficit with India. For this reason, last year it had increased the import tariff on Indian goods to 50% due to huge purchase of Russian oil. Hindustan Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and some private companies have already stopped purchasing Russian oil. In December, India's oil imports from Russia fell to the lowest level in the last two years, while imports from OPEC countries have increased.

Apart from the Middle East, India is now buying more oil from Africa, South America and America. Besides, the option of purchasing oil from Venezuela is also being considered. Overall, India is now trying to balance oil purchases so that international pressure is reduced and trade relations remain strong.