Indian state refiners have resumed buying Iraqi crude oil, indicating that the world's third-largest crude oil importer is looking to restore supplies from the Middle East following the tentative reopening of the chokepoint.
State-owned Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), which operates a 300,000-barrel-per-day refinery in southern India, has chartered a tanker to load crude from Iraq.
MRPL has booked an Aframax tanker, the Jasmin Joy, to load crude from Iraq’s Basrah oil terminal on July 19-20.
India has been trying for weeks to charter vessels, struggling amid high freight costs and uncertain transit conditions through the Strait of Hormuz.
At the end of June, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the biggest refiner in the country, did not receive any bids in a tender to charter three tankers to pick up crude and gas.
Since the Strait tentatively reopened, vessel traffic has picked up, especially for outbound tankers that had been stuck for months in the Gulf. However, many shipowners and operators remain cautious about sending tankers into the Strait to pick up cargoes.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies is reportedly offering millions of barrels of Iraq’s Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy crudes for prompt delivery to Asia this month and next.
