By Sarah Sam Adda
India’s state-run refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), has skipped US crude in its latest tender, opting instead for two million barrels from Nigeria and one million from the Middle East, Reuters reported.
According to trade sources, IOC purchased one million barrels each of Nigeria’s Agbami and Usan grades from TotalEnergies, along with one million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Das crude from Shell.
The Nigerian cargoes will be supplied on a free-on-board basis, while the Das crude will be delivered to Indian ports between late October and early November.
The move marks a shift from IOC’s tender last week, when it bought five million barrels of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
Analysts attribute the change to higher landing costs of US crude, despite a $4 Brent-WTI differential, making Nigerian and Middle Eastern grades more attractive.
Nigeria’s oil production has rebounded, surpassing 1.7 million barrels per day in July 2025, the highest in seven months-driven by tighter security in the Niger Delta, which has cut oil theft from 300,000 barrels per day to fewer than 5,000, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Rising rig activity and renewed investment from international oil companies have also boosted output.
India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, continues to diversify purchases across the US, Middle East, Nigeria, and Russia.
Despite US criticism of New Delhi’s Russian crude imports now subject to a 50 per cent tariff, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has insisted India will keep buying Russian oil as long as it remains cost-effective.
Since Western sanctions on Moscow in 2022, India has emerged as the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude, often reselling refined products at higher margins, a practice Washington has condemned.
Oil and refined fuel imports accounted for about a quarter of India’s total imports in the fiscal year to March 2025, underscoring the sector’s central role in the country’s trade balance and foreign reserves.
