India’s biggest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, has secured government permission to import one very large crude carrier (VCCC) of U.S. crude oil every month this year, as Indian firms started buying American crude for the first time. India allows oil imports only on Indian carriers, but U.S. crude transportation needs VLCCs, which can be done by foreign shipping companies. India’s shipping ministry has allowed Indian Oil to import one cargo from the U.S. every month in foreign carriers, Indian media report, quoting a senior official at the oil ministry. Last month, Indian Oil became the first Indian company to buy U.S. crude oil, purchasing 1.6 million barrels of Mars crude. A week later, Bharat Petroleum became the second Indian refiner to start buying U.S. crude oil, after Bharat purchased 500,000 bpd each of Mars and Poseidon crude, to be delivered between late September and early October. Just a few […]