BPCL buys 2 mn bbls extra oil as Saudi cuts price, plans to hike output

BPCL's head of refineries also said his company is also exploring buying additional oil from UAE

Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp has bought 2 million barrels of extra Saudi oil for loading in April, a company official said, after the Kingdom slashed the selling price and announced plans to raise output to record 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd).

"We will be taking two additional cargoes of Arab mix...we have got a mix of Arab light and Arab medium," BPCL's head of refineries R. Ramachandran told Reuters.

He said his company is also exploring buying additional oil from United Arab Emirates.

UAE national oil company ADNOC said it would raise crude supply to more than 4 million bpd in April and would accelerate plans to boost its capacity to 5 million bpd, a target it previously planned to achieve by 2030.

The extra oil the two Gulf allies plan to add is equivalent to 3.6% of global supplies and comes at a time when global fuel demand in 2020 is forecast to contract for the first time in almost a decade due to the coronavirus outbreak.