India ups ESPO Blend oil purchases in June-July as Chinese demand eases
MOSCOW/NEW DELHI, July 17 (Reuters) -India increased its purchases of Russia's Far East ESPO Blend oil for June and July arrival as China, a key buyer of the grade, bought less, two sources involved in the Russian oil trade said and LSEG data showed.
India's imports of Russian ESPO Blend rose to some 500,000 metric tons (123,000 barrels per day) in June and are expected to surpass 700,000 tons this month, according to the sources and the data. This is a significant rise from the 100,000-200,000 tons of the grade India has been purchasing monthly since September 2023, LSEG data shows.
"India's refiners increased ESPO Blend oil buying last month as ample supplies and weaker Chinese demand allowed them to purchase cargoes at a lower price," one of the sources said.
Indian refiners Reliance Industries and Indian Oil were the country's main buyers of ESPO Blend oil last month, the sources said, citing data.
India is the largest buyer of seaborne Russian flagship Urals oil, while China is the main buyer of ESPO Blend due to its suitability for the country's smaller "teapot" refiners and the close proximity of Russia's Kozmino port to China.
China's demand for ESPO Blend fell for May-early June loading cargoes as weak refining margins led to wider discounts for the grade, but prices have improved for July and August loading volumes on stockpiling demand.
Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi ; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
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