Saudi Aramco and Iraq’s state oil company SOMO have stopped selling crude oil to India’s Nayara Energy in the aftermath of sanctions imposed in July by the European Union on the Russian-backed refiner, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The halting of supply from the two Gulf exporters means Nayara, majority-owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, relied entirely on Russia for its crude oil imports in August, according to sources and LSEG shipping data.

Nayara typically receives around two million barrels of Iraqi crude and 1m barrels of Saudi crude each month, but did not receive shipments from either of the two suppliers during August, shipping data from Kpler and LSEG showed.

SOMO and Nayara did not respond to requests for comment. Saudi Aramco declined to comment.

Two of the sources said that the sanctions had created payment problems for Nayara’s purchases from SOMO, without providing further details.

The most recent cargo of Basra crude from SOMO was discharged for Nayara by the Kalliopi, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), at Vadinar port on July 29, according to Kpler and LSEG data as well as data obtained from industry sources.

The private refiner received 1m barrels of Arab Light carried by the VLCC Georgios co-loaded with a similar quantity of Basrah heavy on July 18, its last Saudi delivery, according to LSEG data.

Nayara is receiving direct supplies from Rosneft, an official from the Russian Embassy in New Delhi said last month.

The private company is operating its 400,000 barrel-per-day refinery at Vadinar in western India at about 70-80 per cent capacity due to difficulties in selling its products resulting from the sanctions, sources have said.

Nayara Energy, which controls about 8pc of India’s 5.2m barrel-per-day refining capacity, has been struggling to transport fuel since the EU sanctions, relying on so-called dark fleet vessels after other shippers backed out, according to shipping reports and LSEG data.

The company’s CEO resigned in July. Last week, Nayara announced the appointment of a senior executive from Azerbaijan’s national oil company SOCAR as its chief executive.

Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Editorial

11 Aug, 2026

Equal citizens

AUG 11 occupies a special place in our history because it was on this day in 1947 that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali...
11 Aug, 2026

Tel Aviv’s subterfuge

THE Gaza peace plan championed by US President Donald Trump and his Board of Peace has encountered major turbulence,...
11 Aug, 2026

Abandoned after floods

THREE years after the 2022 floods submerged a third of Pakistan, more than 134,000 verified affected families in...
Updated 10 Aug, 2026

Genuine governance

ON the surface, the Punjab cabinet’s decision to allocate funds for local government elections is a welcome step...
10 Aug, 2026

Failed by the state

THE 1,914 cases of child abuse across Pakistan in the first six months of 2026 should spark outrage. The figure ...
10 Aug, 2026

HIV crisis

PAKISTAN’s presence among countries with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia is a matter of shame. Globally,...