MRPL shuts refining units due to oil shortage, sources say

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE: India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals has shut a crude unit and some secondary units at its 300,000-barrel-per-day refinery due to ‌oil shortage, ⁠three ⁠sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Asian refiners are struggling to secure prompt ​replacement crude cargoes as Iranian threats to shipping through the Strait of ​Hormuz have disrupted crude ⁠oil flows.

The ‌Strait of Hormuz is ​a ​conduit for about a fifth ⁠of crude consumed globally. Some Chinese ​refiners have already started to ​cut runs.


The state-run refiner shut from Wednesday evening the 100,000-barrel-per-day crude unit and secondary units, including a hydrocracker, at its complex in the ‌southern state of Karnataka, two sources said.

MRPL did not immediately respond to Reuters' request ⁠for comment.

The refiner, which stopped buying Russian oil late last year, is mostly dependent ​on the purchase of oil from the Middle East.

MRPL has already suspended refined fuel exports due to the Middle East conflict.