India’s state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited has recently bought a total of four million barrels of Nigerian crude as the country’s refiners intensify efforts to secure alternative supplies amid the US-Iran crisis and disruptions to Middle Eastern oil shipments.
According to Reuters, HPCL purchased two million barrels of Nigerian crude through tenders in two separate transactions, with the latest deal involving one million barrels each of Forcados and Bonga crude grades bought from Shell.
The cargoes are expected to supply HPCL’s Visakh refinery in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, which has a crude processing capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. The latest purchase came after HPCL earlier acquired another two million barrels of Nigerian crude from commodity trader Glencore through a tender.
The earlier purchase comprised one million barrels each of Okwuibome and Utapate crude grades from Nigeria. The crude bought from Glencore will be supplied to HPCL’s Rajasthan refinery, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited, which has a processing capacity of 180,000 barrels per day.
According to Oilprice.com, HPCL owns a 74 per cent stake in HRRL, while the remaining stake is held by the Rajasthan State Government.
