Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has contracted Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) for the supply of up to six million barrels of crude.
With the one-year agreement, “Petrobras will now supply oil to India’s three main state-owned refiners”, Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras said in a press release.
It previously signed contracts for Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC). Under the earlier contracts, Petrobras has exported over 20 million barrels to the South Asian country, Petrobras said.
“For years, Petrobras’ commercial relations with India were concentrated among private refiners, with Reliance Industries Ltd still being an important current partner. Recently, however, the company has been focusing on state-owned refiners, which consume medium oils that better match the company’s export profile”, it said.
Petrobras “is constantly assessing all markets in search of the best placement for its exported oil volumes, negotiating barrels under both contractual and spot modalities”, the company added.
“In addition to India, the company has been increasing exports of different grades of crude oil to South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and, most notably, to the European market. In the refined products market, Africa, the Americas and Asia have gained importance. Beyond crude oil, Petrobras also markets internationally more than 10 different petroleum-derived products”.
Claudio Schlosser, Petrobras executive director for logistics, commercialization and markets, said, “India is, unquestionably, one of the main drivers of the global economy today and will be even more so in the near future. It is an extremely relevant market for international oil flows, given its robust economic and population growth, combined with its refining capacity of more than five million barrels per day and its local production covering just over 10 percent of its needs”.
“The increase in Petrobras’ participation in supplying oil to India is the result of continuous efforts and market development carried out by our commercial offices in Singapore, Rotterdam and Houston, coordinated by the central office in Rio de Janeiro,” said Schlosser.
The contract was signed in India during an official mission by Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, Petrobras said.
On February 12 Petrobras and Bharat Petroleum said they had signed a petroleum supply contract. Petrobras said it will deliver up to six million barrels a year to the Indian state-owned refiner starting 2025. Neither company disclosed the duration of the contract.
“India was in 2024 the destination of four percent of Petrobras’ oil exports”, Petrobras noted in its February announcement.
On September 26, 2022, Petrobras announced an agreement to supply IOC up to 12 million barrels of oil for six months, renewable for one year.
Petrobras’ latest supply deal with an Indian refiner comes as the South Asian country faces pressure from the Trump administration over Russian oil imports.
India is “broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions”, India’s External Affairs Ministry said in an online statement October 16.
“Where the U.S. is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade.
“The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing”.
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