Page 8 - AsianOil Week 23 2022

AsianOil SOUTH ASIA AsianOil

India eyes more discounted Russian crude

POLICY INDIA is seeking to further expand imports of are set to drop faster over the coming months as
Russian oil, taking advantage of the heavy dis- the EU introduces its phased embargo of Russian
count of the supplies, Bloomberg reported on crude. This has caused Russia’s flagship Urals oil
June 6. blend to sink to a record discount to Brent –
State oil refiners in the country are collectively something that India and some other Asian buy-
working on finalising six-month supply deals ers are eager to exploit.
for Russian oil, sources told the news agency. Meanwhile, Indian state oil companies have
The cargoes are being sought from Rosneft on also expressed interest in expanding their pres-
a delivered basis, with the seller due to handle ence in the Russian upstream sector, potentially
shipping and insurance. replacing the Western oil majors that are look-
These extra purchases, if concluded, would ing to exit the country. ONGC was reported last
be on top of the shipments that India already month to be considering placing more bids for
receives from Russia under other contracts, oil and gas assets in Russia, despite the fact that
Bloomberg said. While details on volumes and an earlier offer to buy Shell’s 50% stake in the
pricing are still being negotiated, Indian banks Salym fields in Western Siberia was rejected.
are expected to finance all the cargoes. The other assets it is considering include Exx-
The state refiners in question include Indian onMobil’s 30% stake in the Sakhalin-1 project,
Oil Corp. (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum and and Shell’s 27.5% interest in the Sakhalin-2
Bharat Petroleum, while private refiners Reli- development.
ance Industries and Nayara Energy, part-owned Along with ONGC, Bharat Petroleum, IOC
by Rosneft, are also involved in the talks. and Oil India Ltd (OIL) are also understood to
Western oil buyers have been shunning Rus- have held preliminary discussions among them-
sian oil in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of selves on whether to consider buying BP’s 20%
Ukraine, and the country’s supplies to Europe stake in Russia’s Rosneft.™

SOCAR offers $100mn investment

in Pakistan’s LNG industry

INVESTMENT SOCAR has offered to invest $100mn in the fields. “Partnership in the oil and gas sector can be
development of Pakistan’s LNG sector, according extended to other sectors such as tourism. Azer-
to the Associated Press of Pakistan. According to baijan wants to transform fraternal relations into
the agency, the issue was discussed at a meeting economic ties along the lines of Turkish-Azerbai-
between Azerbaijani Ambassador to Islamabad jani relations,” the news agency emphasises.
Khazar Farhadov and Pakistani State Oil Minis- “Pakistan’s huge potential in the oil and gas
ter Musadiq Malik on 3 June. exploration sector and its decision to explore
“During a meeting with Malik, the ambas- ways and means to strengthen cooperation in
sador unveiled SOCAR’s investment proposal this regard was also discussed,” the news agency
regarding the LNG sector, including the creation wrote. Malik assured of his full support for the
of a terminal, the provision of short-term loans working groups on energy and said that a per-
and a deferred payment mechanism,” the agency son responsible for all issues of cooperation in
reported. “With the growing energy needs of the the energy sector would be appointed from the
country, such investments and partnerships rep- oil division.
resent a huge opportunity,” said the minister, as Farhadov on Twitter called the meeting with
quoted by the news agency. Malik fruitful. “We discussed the prospects for
During the meeting, the parties focused on bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Paki-
strengthening relations between the two countries stan, in particular, investment opportunities in
and expanding areas of cooperation in various the energy sector,” he tweeted.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 10•June•2022