India has diversified its oil import in order to reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern crudes after OPEC nations decided to stick to their production cuts through April.
The first cargo of crude from Guyana, chartered by Trafigura, is on its way to reach India's Mundra port around April 8, according to a Reuters report. Refinitiv Eikon data says 1 million-barrel cargo of Guyana's Liza light sweet crude set sail on March 2 on Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Sea Garnet.
Following the cut in production, the OPEC's share in India's oil imports fell to a record lows between April 2020 and January 2021. India is the world's third-largest crude importer.
Oil prices jumped in March after OPEC and its oil-producing allies decided to extend production cut into April.
OPEC+ had agreed to cut oil production by a record of 9.7 million barrels per day last year. However, the cut was reduced to 7.7 million and eventually 7.2 million from January. Saudi Arabia had announced voluntary cuts of 1 million from the beginning of February through March.
Crude from the world's newest oil producer Guyana is mainly exported to the United States, China, Panama and the Caribbean, according to tanker-tracking data. The south American nation began exporting crude in early 2020.
Due to US sanctions on Venezuela, India has not been able to import oil from the South American nation since December. India had bought 371,300 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil in February 2020. The import came to naught following Washington’s suspension of oil-for-fuel swaps between Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA and Reliance Industries Ltd since October.