NEW DELHI: Saudi Aramco and Iraq’s state oil marketing firm SOMO have halted crude oil sales to India’s Nayara Energy following European Union sanctions imposed in July on the Russian-backed refiner, according to three sources cited by foreign media.
The suspension forced Nayara—majority-owned by Russian entities including Rosneft—to rely entirely on Russian crude imports in August, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler confirmed. Normally, the refiner sources around 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude and 1 million barrels of Saudi crude each month.
The last recorded shipments were discharged in July: a Basra crude cargo from SOMO via the VLCC Kalliopi on July 29, and 1 million barrels of Arab Light from Saudi Aramco co-loaded with Basrah heavy on the Georgios on July 18. Since then, no crude deliveries have arrived from either supplier.
Two sources attributed the halt to payment complications stemming from sanctions. While SOMO and Nayara did not comment, Saudi Aramco also declined to respond.
Nayara, which operates a 400,000 barrel-per-day refinery at Vadinar, western India, is currently running at 70–80% capacity due to difficulties in selling refined products. The sanctions have forced the company to rely on “dark fleet” tankers after mainstream shippers withdrew.
Controlling about 8% of India’s refining capacity, Nayara has faced mounting operational strain. Its CEO resigned in July, and the company recently appointed a senior executive from Azerbaijan’s SOCAR as the new chief executive.
