World's Newest Oil Producer Sends First Cargo Of Crude To India

India has asked refiners to speed up the diversification of imports to cut their dependence on Middle Eastern crudes after OPEC+ decided this month to extend production cuts through April, two sources said.

The first cargo from new oil producer Guyana to the world's third-largest crude importer, India, departed this month from a production facility off the South American nation's coast in a vessel chartered by trading firm Trafigura, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed on Tuesday. India has asked refiners to speed up the diversification of imports to cut their dependence on Middle Eastern crudes after OPEC+ decided this month to extend production cuts through April, two sources said. As OPEC's share in India's oil imports fell to historic lows between April 2020 and January 2021, the refining powerhouse began making preparations to import Guyanese crude while renewing a key supply contract between top refiner Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Russia. The 1 million-barrel cargo of Guyana's Liza light sweet crude set sail on March 2 on Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Sea Garnet bound for India's Mundra port, where it is set to arrive around April 8. The cargo's charterer is Trafigura , according to the Eikon data.