According to a source familiar with the subject, India’s leading refiner, Indian Oil Corp will seek oil for June arrival via bids after snatching up 9 million barrels of immediate supplies as it postponed repair plans for the Paradip facility.
According to the source, the refiner has extended a 40-day maintenance downtime of its 300,000 barrels per day Paradip refinery to August-September from April-May in order to benefit from increased oil product margins.
On Friday, IOC purchased 9 million barrels of crude which are expected to be delivered in May.
The refiner bought 3 million barrels each of Abu Dhabi’s Upper Zakum and Murban crude from a European trader, the first source and traders said. IOC also purchased 1 million barrels each of Congolese Djeno crude, Nigeria’s Agbami and Gabon’s Mandji crude from two oil majors and a European trader, they said.
Traders speculated that IOC paid $13 a barrel more for Upper Zakum crude supplies than Dubai quotations, despite the fact that the original source claimed premiums for the cargoes were less than $10 a barrel.
Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), in addition to IOC, has postponed a three-week maintenance shutdown of a crude unit at its export-focused refinery until September.
