By Robert Harvey
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were stable on Thursday as traders prepared for a potential halt to India’s Russian oil imports, which could reshape flows and boost demand for supplies from elsewhere.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged on Wednesday that India would stop buying from Russia, which is India’s top supplier, accounting for about one-third of its oil imports.
“This is a positive development for the crude oil price as it would remove a big buyer of Russian oil,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
UKRAINIAN STRIKES DISRUPT RUSSIAN REFINERIES
Brent crude futures were up 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $62.23 a barrel at 1322 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $58.47.
Both contracts on Wednesday touched the lowest since early May on U.S.-China trade tensions and concern about a looming supply glut.
Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, with expectations of a gradual reduction, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
However, India said on Thursday that its two main goals were to ensure stable energy prices and secure supply, making no reference to Trump’s comments.
Russia said it was confident that its energy partnership with India would continue.
Meanwhile, Russian products supply has been hampered by persistent Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries.
Russia’s energy minister said on Wednesday that Russian refineries would postpone planned maintenance to saturate the market.
Ukraine attacked the Saratov refinery overnight, while Rosneft’s Ufaneftekhim halted crude processing in one of its four crude units after an attack on Wednesday.
“The plummeting availability of Russian products and crude oil ought to set a floor under the market. This year’s low of $58.40 per barrel for Brent, reached in April, may well prove a cumbersome task to breach,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.
Elsewhere, the British government announced new sanctions on Wednesday, directly targeting Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil – two of the world’s biggest energy companies.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey in London, Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Sam Li in Beijing. Editing by Alexander Smith and Mark Potter)
