Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) has signed an MoU in Abu Dhabi with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to explore the possibility of storing ADNOC crude oil at ISPRL’s underground oil storage facility at Padur in Karnataka, which has a 2.5 million tonne capacity. Under the MoU, ADNOC is expected to store crude in compartments at Padur.
The MoU with ISPRL, an Indian government-owned company mandated to store crude oil for emergency needs, follows the arrival, on November 4, of the final shipment of the initial delivery of ADNOC crude to be stored in another ISPRL underground facility at Mangaluru, also in Karnataka, which will store 5.86 million barrels of ADNOC crude oil.
The MoU was signed by Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, Director of Marketing, Sales and Trading at ADNOC and HPS Ahuja, CEO & MD, ISPRL on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC). The signing was witnessed by H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, and Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.
On the occasion, HE Dr Al Jaber said, “India is an important oil market and this agreement underscores the strategic energy partnership between the UAE and India that leverages the UAE and ADNOC’s expertise and oil resources. It is our firm hope that we will be able to convert this framework agreement into a new mutually beneficial partnership that will create opportunities for ADNOC to increase deliveries of high quality crude oil to India’s expanding energy market and helping India meet its growing energy demand and safeguard its energy security.”
