Indian Oil Corp buys its first Johan Sverdrup crude cargoes

IOC will take delivery of two million barrels of the NorthSea crude in each of May and June, one of the sources said.Further details on the trades were not yet clear

State-run refinerIndian Oil Corporation (IOC) has made its firstpurchase of Norway's Johan Sverdrup crude, buying four millionbarrels via a tender as it speeds up diversification of crudeimports, two trade sources told Reuters on Monday. IOC will take delivery of two million barrels of the NorthSea crude in each of May and June, one of the sources said.Further details on the trades were not yet clear. The move follows the Indian government's call to cutdependence on crude from the Middle East in an escalatingstand-off between India, the world's third-largest crudeimporter, and Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of theOrganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).