Hindustan Petroleum Corp is looking for an alternative source for crude oil to protect itself if the company decides to stop buying Russian oil due to higher prices and sanctions. This is as per Vikas Kaushal, Chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, while speaking at an investor call on Friday.
A latest report on Reuters indicates that Hindustan Petroleum has paused buying Russian oil as it has become pricey, and President Donald Trump threatens to impose additional penalties on India for purchasing Russian oil.
No government directive yet on import curbs
HPCL chairman Kaushal said that while there was no official directive from the government regarding the purchase of Russian oil, the company’s Russian oil intake in the June quarter fell to 13.2 per cent due to narrowing discounts.
It’s not because of any geopolitical reason. It was an economic decision based on what we needed to run in our refineries,” Kaushal told an analyst call.
Kaushal added that HPCL remains open to buying Russian oil if it becomes competitively priced again. He said that the company would be able to absorb the financial loss for not processing Russian oil, as it has already cut its Russian oil processing.
HPCL’s current capacity
Hindustan Petroleum directly controls 4,90,000 barrels per day refining capacity. Additionally, the company has a stake in private refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, which operates a 2,26,000 barrels per day plant.
Further, Hindustan Petroleum is also building a 1,80,000 barrels per day capacity refinery at Barmer, Rajasthan.
The public sector company has broadened its supplier base for crude imports and streamlined its crude import strategy, sourcing 4 million barrels through a single tender instead of multiple offers.