As part of efforts to diversify supply, Indian Oil Corp is seeking to buy up to 24 million barrels of US oil for delivery between October 2020 and March 2021, supporting the country’s top refiner to hedge against unpredictable pricing moves by Middle East producers.
For discharge at the Paradip port on the east coast, IOC has the option of an additional 2 million barrels per month. The company is inquiring 2 million barrels per month of US crude. Despite weak refining margins, Asian refiners had anticipated Saudi Aramco would raise July crude prices. However, the increase was more than expected to Asian buyers.
A day following OPEC+ agreed to extend record output cuts to the end of July, the producer hiked the selling prices to all destinations for July for its crude grades. Up $6.10 from June for Asian buyers, the July official selling price raised by Saudi Aramco to plus $0.20 a barrel for its Arab light crude to Asia. Aramco’s move in increasing official selling prices will be likely followed by other Middle East producers.
