Rosneft allocated seven shipments to the IOC, each weighing 100,000 tons, between May 15 and 31, according to the traders.
In May, the IOC will for the first time ship Ural oil volumes from Rosneft from Baltic ports. Previously, the main buyers of the cargo were the trading companies Vitol and Trafigura.
However, international traders will stop buying oil from Rosneft after May 15 as EU sanctions against several Russian companies come into effect.
Last December, the IOC and Rosneft signed a fixed-term contract to supply up to 2 million tons of Ural oil by the end of 2022. As part of the agreement, IOC bought several Ural cargoes from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk this year.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the May deliveries are part of the existing contract or part of the new agreement.
Last week, Reuters sources said that Rosneft had negotiated supply deals with several Indian refiners, including IOC.
Rosneft and Indian oil officials did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
India has asked state-owned energy companies to explore the possibility of buying European oil giant BP’s stake in sanctions-hit Russian firm Rosneft, two people familiar with the matter said in late April.
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