Indian refineries have purchased oil from Guyana for the first time – media

India has started importing oil from Guyana, testing new fuel grades.

India is diversifying its oil import sources with new purchases from South America. Two Indian refineries have purchased four million barrels of crude oil from Guyana for the first time.

According to Reuters, two leading Indian refineries have signed agreements to purchase Guyanese oil from Exxon. Indian Oil Corp, the country’s largest refinery, has acquired two million barrels of Golden Arrowhead crude oil. Meanwhile, Hindustan Petroleum Corp has acquired a similar volume of Liza and Unity Gold grades. The deliveries are expected to commence at the end of 2025 or early 2026.

India’s decision to purchase oil from Guyana is part of a broader strategy to diversify imports, aiming to substitute part of its Russian oil. This move is related to pressures from Washington on India to reduce energy imports from Russia, which has already led to a 50% decrease in Russian oil imports.

Notably, oil production in Guyana is actively growing. The consortium led by Exxon has increased production to 770,000 barrels per day, and exports have reached a historic high of 938,000 barrels per day. This increase in production has been made possible by the launch of the fourth floating production storage and offloading unit. These developments are contributing to the expansion of Guyanese exports and strengthening the country’s position in the global energy market.