en.Wedoany.com Reported - India's Nayara Energy announced on Thursday that its 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Vadinar has completed scheduled maintenance, with the facility processing Russian crude oil as feedstock.

Russian oil company Rosneft holds a 49% stake in Nayara Energy. Due to EU sanctions imposed on the company, the refinery has been processing only Russian crude for months. Following the maintenance, the plant plans to increase supplies of refined products to the Indian domestic market in the coming weeks.

To circumvent EU sanctions triggered by its Russian ownership, which are set to take effect in the summer of 2025, the refiner has shifted its sales focus to the Indian domestic market. The EU has not only imposed sanctions on the refiner but also banned imports of any fuel products produced using Russian crude oil.

The resumption of operations at Nayara Energy's main refinery could further boost India's demand for Russian crude—under the exemption clauses of U.S. sanctions, Russian crude cargoes loaded before June 17 are not subject to sanctions restrictions.

The restart after maintenance will also increase domestic supplies of refined products in India. In response to the Middle East situation, India has raised fuel prices four times, leading to a decline in domestic fuel consumption.

Analysts have recently lowered their forecasts for India's oil demand growth this year. Due to supply constraints and rising oil prices curbing demand for gasoline and diesel, the growth rate is expected to fall to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. Data cited by Bloomberg earlier this week showed that analysts at Kpler and Rystad Energy have cut their forecasts for India's gasoline and diesel demand growth this year by 30% to 90%.

Despite the significant downward revision in fuel demand growth forecasts for the world's third-largest crude oil importer, analysts believe the slowdown this year is not a structural decline. Unlike China, where road fuel demand was already on a structural downward trend before the outbreak of the Iran war, analysts expect India's oil demand to rebound once the Middle East crisis is resolved.

This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com