Indian refiners, both state-owned and private, are weighing a consortium arrangement for buying crude from the United States to secure concessions and save on freight costs, at least two people familiar with the plan said. There was a lot of discussions on energy. This is a new sector in Indo-US relations. We have begun importing oil and gas from the US worth about $4 billion this year. We expressed our readiness to import more oil and gas from the US as a way of expanding our trade, India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Vice President Mike Pence met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit held in Singapore a few days ago. Suppose all of us agree that we want to bring 20 million tonnes of US crude to India and if we are able to do it together, we will be able to share the freight or if we are able to engage with a consortium of US suppliers on a long-term, then we may be able to get more concessions. Suppliers and refiners may then be looking at the logistics of shipping to reduce the freight costs.
Indian oil refiners look at ‘consortium’ approach to buy crude from United States
