Indian refiners have started chartering tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz
and load crude in the Persian Gulf, a tactical shift from relying on Gulf
producers and traders to bear voyage risk. Since the early stages of the US-Iran
conflict refiners avoided using their own ships because of attack risk and paid
cost‑plus freight premiums; recent tenders show firms including Indian Oil
Corporation, Reliance Industries and HPCL‑Mittal Energy buying Iraqi crude, with
Indian Oil buying about 2 million barrels for October delivery. Those purchases
require buyers to arrange vessels and handle logistics.
