BRASILIA : BPCL eyes Brazil crude, inks MoU with Petrobras

BRASILIA : State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Saturday signed an MoU with Brazilian national oil company Petrobras as part of its plan to diversify its sourcing.
Company chairman and managing director Arun Kumar Singh and Petrobras CEO Caio Paes de Andrade signed the MoU in Brazil, BPCL said in a statement.

“The signing of the MoU will strengthen future crude oil trade relations between the two companies and explore potential crude import opportunities by BPCL, on a long term basis, especially considering the current geopolitical situations,” it said.

BPCL imports a large volume of crude oil which is turned into fuel such as petrol and diesel at its three oil refineries at Mumbai, Bina in Madhya Pradesh and Kochi in Kerala.

The statement quoted Singh as saying the association with Petrobras will help achieve energy security for the country. “Strengthening India’s foothold in Brazil will further open business avenues in neighbouring Latin American countries,” he was quoted as saying.

The recent approval by the Union Cabinet to invest in Brazil will help diversify India’s crude oil supply. Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), the upstream oil and gas exploration and production subsidiary of BPCL, plans to invest $ 1.6 billion to develop an oil block in Brazil.

BPRL holds a stake in an ultra-deep water hydrocarbon block in Brazil, owned and operated by Petrobras. The field development plan and final investment decision is expected to be declared soon, the statement said without giving details.