PDVSA in deal with Reliance
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will supply India's Reliance with 150,000 barrels per day of oil beginning in June under a long term supply deal said Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez.
The deal will help Reliance meet its refining needs as it "expands to reach a capacity of almost 600,000 bpd," Ramirez said.
The statement referred to Reliance's project to build a 580,000 bpd addition to the 660,000 bpd Jamnagar refinery in western India reported Reuters.
The $6 billion expansion, which Reliance hopes to complete ahead of its original December target date, would make Jamnagar the world's largest refining complex.
A PDVSA spokesman could not immediately confirm if the deal would supply Jamnagar.
Ramirez did not specify what type of oil it would supply to India or what fields would produce the oil.
PDVSA and India's ONGC created a joint venture called Petrolera IndoVenezolana to boost production from 30,000 bpd to 60,000 bpd at Venezuela's San Cristobal field, which PDVSA says has reserves of 232 million barrels.
Reliance has been actively pursuing petroleum exploration activities around the world and is seeking to develop oil assets in Iraq.