BPCL begins importing crude without IOC
Bharat Petroleum made its first crude importindependent of IOC on 5th March when it contracted to buy a 70,000 tonne first parcel of Abu Dhabi Murban crude for April delivery.
Singapore-based Shell International Trading executed the trade. On 11th March Hindustan Petroleum chairman Hira Lal Zutshi and marketing director D.
S Mathur flew to Saudi Arabia to sign an annual term contract with Saudi Aramco for 4m tonnes of Arabian Light. In February Indian authorities lifted restrictions on BPCL and HPCL buying spot crude.
On 8th March IOC chairman Mohammed Pathan was in Saudi to sign an annual crude import term contract for 2002-03.