India's state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp sees its Russian oil processing down to 20% in March from 31% this month as it awaits offers from traders, its head of finance Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta told an analyst call on Thursday.

Oil refiners in India are reaching for all available options in the rush to make up for Russian flows hit by Washington’s latest round of sanctions, turning to the spot market while simultaneously seeking more long-term supplies from Middle Eastern producers.

Since the Ukraine war, India has become the second largest buyer of Russian crude oil, owing to the hefty discount Russia offered to bypass sanctions. Prior to the war, India secured most of its oil from the Middle East, with Russia not even featuring among India’s top 20 partners.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India became a major buyer of Russian crude oil that was widely sanctioned by the West. That may be about to change.

The latest sanctions package would certainly have an impact on India’s oil imports, given Russia is currently the biggest crude oil source market for India. How it would really pan out would be contingent upon various variables.

Crude oil purchases by Indian Oil Corp. may shift as the new US sanctions on Russia affect supplies from Moscow, pushing the South Asian country’s biggest refiner to seek alternatives.

Middlemen supplying Russian oil are not offering cargoes due to new U.S. sanctions targeting Russian producers, tankers and insurers, according to the finance chief at Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum.

Indian banks has begun blocking payments for Russian oil imports following the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia's oil industry, according to a report from Energy Intelligence, an energy information company.