MRPL seeks crude via tender avoiding Red Sea and Hormuz, document shows

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE: India's state-owned Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd is seeking to import oil via a spot tender and has, for the first time, asked suppliers to avoid using the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, a tender document showed ‌on Monday.

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.