FIRST SHIPMENT OF GUYANA’S LIGHT SWEET CRUDE OIL ON ITS WAY TO INDIA – ECONOMIC TIMES
The Economic Times of India has reported that the first cargo of oil from Guyana left for India on March 2 on a vessel chartered by trading firm Trafigura.
The oil was bought by HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, a 226,000 barrel per day refinery joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp and steel tycoon L.N. Mittal, according to source with knowledge of the matter.
According to the Economic Times, the 1-million-barrel light sweet crude shipment was sold by Hess Corporation, a 30 percent partner with ExxonMobil and CNOOC on Guyana’s world-class Stabroek Block, from the Liza Destiny Floating Production and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel and will arrive in India aboard the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Sea Garnet.
“Guyana’s natural resources minister, Vickram Bharrat, told #Reuters this month that the crude onboard the Sea Garnet had been originally allocated to New York-based Hess Corp, one of the companies producing crude in Guyana along with Exxon Mobil Corp, and delivered to Trafigura…Bharrat said he did not know the identity of the cargo’s ultimate buyer,” the Economic Times reported.
The report indicated that as OPEC’s share in India’s oil imports fell to historic lows between April 2020 and January 2021, the “refining powerhouse” began looking to import Guyanese crude while renewing a key supply contract between top refiner Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Russia.
Additionally, India has urged refiners to intensify diversification of imports to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern crudes after OPEC+ decided this month to extend production cuts through April, the Economic Times reported a source as saying.
India reportedly also relied on imports from #Venezuela but has not received any shipments from Guyana’s Spanish-speaking neighbour to the West 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”.
Guyana, a new petroleum state, began producing oil in December 2019 and is currently at 120,000 barrels per day.
