Red Sea traffic has been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade Saudi exports, expanding the U.S.-Iran conflict that has already choked oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
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“Crude loading/transit via Red Sea route or SoH to be avoided,” MRPL said in a tender document seeking up to 1 million barrels of oil on a delivered basis during August 25 to September 6.
The company, which did not award its previous tender seeking oil, is the first Indian refiner to include such a clause in its spot crude import tenders.
MRPL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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MRPL has taken a “precautionary view” as it wants to avoid a potential supply disruption along two of the world’s key maritime oil trade routes, said a source familiar with the matter.
The new clause would continue to be a part of future import tenders if the situation in the Middle East does not improve, the source added.
MRPL, a subsidiary of state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp, operates a 300,000 barrels per day refinery in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.