Indian Oil Corp has
received no bids in tenders to charter vessels for lifting crude
oil and liquefied petroleum gas cargoes from ports within the
Strait of Hormuz, said two trade sources familiar with the
matter.
India’s top refiner and fuel retailer last week floated
three tenders to charter a very large gas carrier (VLGC), a very
large crude carrier and a Suezmax.
Indian state refiners mostly buy oil and LPG from the Middle
Eastern producers on free-on-board basis.
A VLCC typically carries 2 million barrels of oil, and a
VLGC can hold about 45,000 metric tonnes of LPG – a mix of propane
and butane used in India mainly as a cooking gas. A Suezmax
carries about one million barrels of oil.
“No one wants to take a risk as yet of going into the
Strait. Most ship owners are in wait-and-watch mode as they want
clarity on the terms of getting into the strait,” said a ship
broker.
Indian Oil was seeking to lift about 45,000 metric tonnes of
LPG between June 30 and July 4 from the ports of Ras Laffan in
Qatar, Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, or Ruwais in the UAE.
The refiner was looking to charter a VLCC to lift oil from
Mina Al Ahmadi between June 28 and 29 and a Suezmax for loading
cargo between June 29 and 30 from Ras Al Khafji port in Saudi
Arabia for deliveries on India’s west coast.