Reliance ties up Venezuelan crude supplies as Chavez opens tap for India

10 April 2008

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd, the country's largest refiner, will buy 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil from Venezuela for its upcoming export-oriented refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Reliance struck the long-term supply deal after its CEO and president (oil and gas) P M S Prasad held a nearly one-hour meeting with Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez Ramirez in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

Under the long-term supply contract, Ramirez said, Reliance will get 1,50,000 barrels per day oil from Venezuelan oil fields.

Reliance has been buying Venezuelan crude for its existing 6,60,000 barrels per day refinery at Jamnagar.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has promised to supply India more oil on a regular basis. During talks with visiting petroleum minister Murli Deora, Chavez offered to supply one million barrels per day of crude to India in the near future.

Chavez also agreed to Deora's request for giving ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) a stake in one of the four oilfields in the Carabobo and a piece in the Junin Norte Block in the Orinoco heavy-oil basin.