After ONGC rejected Sokol oil in favor of Russian Urals oil, citing sanctions, Indian oil refining company Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) also chose to purchase Urals instead of Sokol from the Sakhalin-1 project. This information is reported by Reuters, citing its source.

According to the agency’s interlocutor, the decision to abandon Sokol is due to difficulties in making payments due to existing anti-Russian sanctions. However, BPCL Chairman Sanjay Khan previously stated that the company would purchase Russian oil from any supplier if it was profitable. However, Urals is trading at a discount compared to premium Sokol oil, reports oilcapital.ru.

Previously, the media actively discussed the cases of tankers carrying Sokol oil, which were forced to wait for permission to unload at Indian ports. It was reported that ONGC, which was originally destined for oil from the Sakhalin project, refused to accept Sokol grade oil. As a result, only the day before the tankers were unloaded at the port of Vadinar, where the oil refinery is located, co-owned by the Rosneft company.