![](https://energy-analytics-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/indian_oil_corp-_PTI.jpg)
(Reuters, 29.Jun.2021) — Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), the country’s top refiner, has made its first purchase of Guyana’s Liza light sweet crude as it seeks to diversify its crude purchases, a source familiar with matter said.
The 1 million-barrel cargo will set sail around July 4 on Greece-flagged tanker Militos for India’s Paradip port, where it is set to arrive around August 8, according to Refinitiv data.
This would be a ‘trial cargo’, the source said, without giving details of pricing. The source said that India is in talks with Guyana’s government for a term oil supply contract for state refiners.
IOC is the first Indian state refiner to buy Liza oil. Private refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, a joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS) and steel tycoon L.N. Mittal, bought a million barrels of Liza grade in March.
IOC declined to immediately comment.
India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, ships in more than 80% of its oil needs from overseas and relies heavily on the Middle East.
![](https://energy-analytics-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Pasted-image-1624447995416-reuters-india-guyana-1024x649.png)
Earlier this year India asked state refiners to expedite the diversification of crude sources after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, also known as OPEC+ failed to ease supply curbs, leading to a spike in global oil prices.
The state refiners – IOC, HPCL, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL.NS) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS) – together control about three-fifths of India’s 5 million barrel per day refining capacity.
With tax-heavy retail prices of gasoline and gasoil jumping to a record high, Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has again requested OPEC+, ahead of the group’s July 1 meeting, to consider easing supply curbs to enable demand-led recovery and to calm inflation.
____________________
Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan