Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is seeking high-sulphur oil from the spot market in its first sour crude import tender since March 2022, expecting the latest U.S. sanctions to hit supplies from Moscow, trade sources said on Thursday.

It is India's first tender for sour crude imports since March 2022. IOC and other Indian refiners have significantly increased purchases of Russian oil over the past two years, taking advantage of discounted prices after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Indian Oil Corp is buying Middle Eastern and African crude to replace Russian volumes affected by U.S. sanctions.

IOC earlier this week floated tenders seeking sour and sweet crude for loading between the second half of February and the first half of March.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , the country's top refiner, has bought 7 million barrels of spot Middle Eastern and African crude oil via tenders, including a rare purchase of Abu Dhabi's Murban, as U.S. sanctions are expected to hit supplies from Russia,