Indian company HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd has purchased 1 million-barrels of Guyanese crude, the Reuters News Agency has reported.
According to the report, the cargo departed last month in a vessel chartered by trading firm Trafigura and marks the first cargo from the new oil-producing country to the world’s third-largest crude importer.
“As OPEC’s share in India’s imports fell to historic lows between April 2020 and January 2021, the refining powerhouse began making preparations to import Guyanese”, the report said while adding that, “the 1-million-barrel cargo of Guyana’s Liza light sweet crude set sail on March 2 on Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Sea Garnet bound for India’s Mundra port, where is it set to arrive on April 8.”
Details of the sale remains sketchy.
The report quoted Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat as saying that the crude had been originally allocated to New York-based Hess Corp, one of the companies producing oil in Guyana along with ExxonMobil and that he did know the identity of the ultimate buyer of the cargo.
Since Guyana began exporting crude, its oil has flowed mainly to the United States, China, Panama and the Caribbean according to the tanker-tracker data.
India was a prominent importer of Venezuelan oil, but tight U.S. sanctions on the South American country have since 2019 limited the volume India can buy, if it is even allowed.
India did not receive any Venezuelan crude imports in February for a third consecutive month due to Washington’s suspension of oil-for-fuel swaps between state-run PDVSA and Reliance Industries Ltd since October. That compares with 371,300 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil that arrived in Indian ports in February 2020.
Besides Russia, North American producers Canada, the United States and Mexico have gained market share by selling heavy crude grades to India.
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