NEW DELHI: In the first-ever deal by an Indian company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Monday said it has signed an annual deal worth USD 1.5 billion to import 3 million tonnes of crude oil in the fiscal year beginning April 1.
This is the first time any Indian refiner has signed an annual contract since the country in 2017 began importing crude oil from the US. “IOC has finalized a term contract for import of up to 3 million tonnes of crude oil of US origin grades as a part of its strategy to diversify term crude sources,” the company said in a statement. The contract was finalized on February 15.
The term contract follows IOC signing up to buy crude oil from the US through a term-tender deal in August last year. It had at that time bought about 6 million barrels of US crude oil under single tender for delivery between November 2018 and January 2019. “The approximate value of the contract works out to USD 1.5 billion,” the IOC statement said.
