# MRPL cuts West Asia crude share to 27% 2026-08-24T23:45:10+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd said crude sourced from West Asia fell from about 66% in 2022-23 to around 27% in the first quarter of 2026-27. Russian crude supplies also declined from 44% to about 27-28%. Managing Director and CEO M Shyamprasad Kamath said MRPL is diversifying sourcing regions, suppliers and shipping routes so that no single geography or route becomes decisive. The company sources crude globally to meet refinery needs. Kamath also said MRPL uses generative, discriminative and predictive artificial intelligence in daily operations. AI now predicts melt flow index and xylene solubility in the polypropylene unit, while a real-time optimiser manages power and steam demand at the captive power plant, helping reduce oil use. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Crude sourcing flexibility depends on refinery design, because different oils require different processing settings and can affect yields, maintenance and product quality. Shipping access and payment arrangements also influence whether a supplier can be used consistently, even when cargoes are available. For Indian refiners, diversification can reduce exposure to a single disruption but may alter costs and operating efficiency. MRPL’s parent company is ONGC, and its refinery is located at Mangaluru, close to India’s west-coast import routes. The company’s next disclosed operating updates will show whether the changed crude mix is sustained beyond the first quarter of 2026-27. ## Coverage - thehindubusinessline.com Reports sourcing changes and AI use without adversarial or promotional framing This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Mangaluru, MRPL, ONGC, Russia, West Asia Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/mrpl-cuts-west-asia-crude-share-to-27/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/mrpl-cuts-west-asia-crude-share-to-27/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/