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.
