Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) plans to source more crude oil from Iraq in order to compensate for the possible decline in its import from Iran.
The company may have to reduce dependence on Iranian crude oil from June because it may not be able to
renew insurance to process the crude thanks to the sanction from Western countries.
Therefore, the public sector refiner may enter into a
contract with Iraq to buy more oil from April 1, 2013. A top official of HPCL said the firm would source up to 46,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Iran in the year ending March 31 under a contract for 40,000 bpd with an option for another 20,000 bpd.
HPCL, Iran’s third-biggest Indian oil client, may not be able to get insurers to renew cover if it processes Iranian oil in its two refineries when renewal comes up in June.
The sanctions imposed by European Union and aims at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making a bomb, have more than halved Iran’s oil exports in 2012. Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian use.
Any cut in HPCL’s Iran oil imports would be in line with a broader goal set by India, the world’s fourth-largest oil importer and Iran’s second-biggest client after China, to reduce deliveries from Tehran. A tough new US condition on funding such purchases has been imposed. HPCL would take up to three cargoes totaling three million barrels from Tehran during April and May.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.