Brunt of Red Sea Crisis
- HPCL has secured crude supplies till mid-April
- Diesel exports to Europe hit by rising cargo costs
- Longer shipments from India to US and Europe due to rerouting
- Insurance costs could rise further, impacting refining margins
New Delhi: The ongoing attacks on shipping vessels by Houthi militants in the Red Sea have not impacted the flow of crude oil to India but freight has gone up due to rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) chairman Pushp Kumar Joshi said. India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, gets a bulk of its Russian supplies through the Red Sea. Russian supplies made up for over 35 per cent of India’s total crude imports in 2023, amounting to 1.7 million barrels per day.
Russian ships and cargoes are not being prime targets of the attacks at this stage however rerouting of ships around the southern tip of Africa instead of transiting through the Suez Canal and Red Sea has led to ships taking longer voyages, resulting in the shortage of ships and rise in freight charges. In a post-third quarter earnings call with investors, Joshi said HPCL has tied up crude oil supplies till mid-April and it does not see any supply disruptions.
