India receives first-ever crude oil shipment from US

The first US crude oil cargo of 1.6 million barrels from United States, bought by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), was received at Indian Paradip port, on 2 October.

The crude oil was carried onboard MT New Prosperity, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) with a capacity of two million barrels, which left US Gulf Coast on August 19.

As IOCL informed, it will process the crude at its refineries located at Paradip, Haldia (West Bengal), Barauni and Bongaigaon.

IOCL became the first Indian public refiner from India to source US crude and it has placed a cumulative order 3.9 million barrel from the US, local media report. Additionally, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, also state-owned refiners have placed orders for about 2.95 million barrels and 1 million barrels respectively from the US.

Symbolically, a sample of the cargo was presented to Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, who called it a new chapter in the history of Indian-US trade, adding that the inclusion of the US as a source for crude oil imports by India’s largest refiner will reduce risks of geo-political disruptions.