Indian state-owned oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) has reportedly entered into an agreement with BP to purchase 1 million barrels per month of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for a duration of four months, according to trade sources.
Delivery of the oil is expected to commence from June, as stated by the sources. Additionally, BPCL has procured 2 million barrels of WTI crude through a separate spot tender for loading in April.
BPCL frequently procures U.S. oil for its three refineries, which collectively have a refining capacity of 706,000 barrels per day (bpd). The WTI crude will fulfill BPCL’s requirement for low-sulfur crude, noted one of the sources, emphasizing that the economics and quality of U.S. crude surpass those of oil from West Africa and the Mediterranean.
It is anticipated that BPCL will process a higher volume of crude in the upcoming fiscal year starting in April compared to the current year. This is attributed to the closure of its 156,000 bpd Bina refinery in central India for maintenance purposes for a month, along with maintenance shutdowns at units of its 120,000 bpd Mumbai refinery.
Requests for comments from BPCL to Reuters remained unanswered at the time of reporting.
