IEW 2026 to see $780 million crude deal with Brazil, shipbuilding pact

Agreements including a $780 million crude import pact with Brazil and ethane carrier construction contracts are set to be signed as India seeks to bolster energy self-reliance

A $780 million contract to import crude oil from Brazil and a pact to build large ships to carry ethane are among the agreements likely to be signed at the India Energy Week (IEW) starting January 27.

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) will buy 12 million barrels of oil for $780 million from Brazil's Petrobras in 2026-27 fiscal year, twice the size of its contract in the previous fiscal, as part of India's strategy to diversify crude procurement.

BPCL and Petrobras will sign a term contract for the crude supply during the IEW, a government statement said.

Brazil is among the geographies that India, the world's third largest oil importing and consuming nation, is tapping to diversify its crude procurement. The diversification will help hedge risks of relying on just a few sources for buying crude oil - the raw material for making fuels like petrol and diesel.

 

During the four-day conference, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and its Japanese partner Mitsui OSK Lines will sign two shipbuilding contracts with Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea, the statement said.

ONGC is partnering with Mitsui to jointly build, own, and operate two very large ethane carriers (VLECs) for transporting ethane from the US to ONGC's petrochemical arm, OPaL (ONGC Petro Additions Ltd.) at Dahej, Gujarat, starting around 2028, securing feedstock for the petrochemical plants and strengthening India's energy self-reliance.

Those ships will be built at Samsung's shipyards.

Other agreements to be signed at IEW include Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) inking a preliminary deal with France's TotalEnergies to build a 200,000 tonne per year sustainable aviation fuel project at Paradip in Odisha.

Also, NRL and Oil India Ltd will sign a preliminary deal with TotalEnergies "for evaluating liquefied natural gas (LNG) market sourcing potential for future requirements" of the two Indian companies, it said.

Separately, BharatPetro Resources Ltd - a unit of BPCL - will sign an agreement with Shell "for potential participation in farm-in opportunities across the globe."  'Farm-in' means buying a stake in oil and gas companies across the world.

"IEW 2026 being held from 27-30 January at ONGC ATI, Goa, brings together ministers from across the world, global CEOs, policymakers, financial institutions, academia and technology providers at a critical juncture for the global energy sector," the statement said.

This is the "first major international energy event of the year, focusing on energy security, investment, and decarbonisation pathways.