News Brief | December 2014
State-run marketing cos seek flexible deals
PSU refiners, who account for about two-thirds of the country´s oil processing capacity, are seeking more flexibility in import contracts as they look to tap new sources of supply flushed out by the US shale boom. India, the world´s fourth-biggest oil consumer with refining capacity of 4.3 million barrels per day, imports 80 per cent of its crude needs and has traditionally relied on the Middle East for heavy oil supplies and West Africa for lighter, sweet crude. A push to include both fixed and optional volumes in contracts would allow refiners to fill some of their needs from cheaper spot cargoes now on offer from suppliers such as Algeria, Latin America and Canada as US demand has dwindled.