India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp has stepped up supplies from United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, replacing those from crisis-hit Libya, an industry source with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. "ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Co) and Saudi Arabia have agreed to raise supplies," the source told Reuters, adding BPCL annually buys up to 0.50 million tonnes or 10,000 bpd Libyan oil - a small portion of the 430,000 bpd needed at its key plants.
Rebels opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi edged towards the major oil terminal of Ras Lanuf on Friday, as civil unrest in the country intensifies. Libya's oil output has fallen to 700,000-750,000 bpd from normal levels of 1.6 million bpd as most foreign oil workers have taken flight, according to Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya's state-owned oil company.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has boosted production to 9 million bpd as it steps in to meet increased demand from consumers hit by the cutback in Libyan exports. Another Indian refiner said his company was offered higher volumes by Saudi Arabia. "We have decided not to raise Saudi volumes as we do not import crude from Libya," the source said. China's Unipec - one of the biggest single lifters of Libyan crude - has so far declined Saudi Arabia's offer of more crude and is not buying extra barrels to replace lost Libyan supplies, trading sources said earlier this week.
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