News Post
India may offer Iraq stake in upcoming Indian Oil refinery in Eastern India
India may offer a stake to Iraq in state-run Indian Oil's upcoming refinery in eastern India as part of a long-term oil-supply arrangement with the Middle Eastern country, a senior government official said Tuesday.
This follows the visit of a Iraqi delegation led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to India last month.
India is the world's fourth-largest energy consumer and it meets more than three-fourths of its crude oil requirements through imports. During the prime minister's visit, the countries signed an energy-cooperation agreement on oil exploration and refining and decided to work toward establishing a 10-year oil-supply agreement from Iraq.
India also wants to increase imports from Iraq, its second-largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, as a replacement for falling shipments from traditional supplier Iran amid Western sanctions against Tehran. India's crude oil imports from Iraq are currently estimated at about $20 billion/year.
"Iraq may take some equity in the company [refinery]," Prabhat Kumar, joint secretary of energy security at the ministry of external affairs, told The Wall Street Journal.
Indian Oil is building the refinery in the eastern state of Orissa with a crude-processing capacity of 15 million tpy. It is expected to cost about 298 billion rupees ($4.38 billion), according to Indian Oil's website.
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