Two Indian refiners have bought cargoes totaling 4 million barrels of Guyanese crude, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed trade sources who also said the oil will be delivered by the end of this year or the start of 2026.
Each of the refiners—Indian Oil Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum—has bought a cargo of 2 million barrels from the Stabroek Block, which is the only producing deposit in Guyana at the moment, led by Exxon, in partnership with China’s CNOOC and Chevron, after the latter’s acquisition of Hess Corp.
The news report comes after Reuters earlier this week wrote that some Indian refiners were moving away from Russian crude under pressure from the White House. Once again citing unnamed sources, the publication said some refiners on the subcontinent were preparing to start curbing their purchases of Russian crude from December onwards, after already placing orders for deliveries next month.
Earlier in the year, in an attempt to force India to stop buying Russian oil, President Trump slapped an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods coming into the United States. At the time, the Modi government reacted sharply, noting there were energy security implications if Indian refiners stopped buying Russian oil.
This week, Trump claimed that Modi had promised to suspend Russian oil imports, adding that “That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.” In re sponse, the Indian government issued an official statement to the effect that the country’s leadership prioritizes energy supply security rather than geopolitics.
“India is a significant importer of oil and gas,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Shri Randhir Jaiswal said Thursday. “It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective.”
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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