Indian refiners Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd (MRPL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) issued tenders this week seeking crude oil, trade sources said on Tuesday, after harsher U.S. sanctions disrupted Russian supply.

Bharat Petroleum Corp, India's state-run oil refiner, expects its processing of Russian oil down to 20% in March, down from 31% this month.

The wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the U.S. on the Russian oil sector have started to dent near-term oil flows to India with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) saying not enough cargoes are available for March.

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 recent implementation of new US sanctions on Russian oil producers, tankers, and insurers has created a disruption in the supply chain.

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.

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.