Reliance Industries makes first purchase of US crude

Reliance Industries Ltd has purchased crude oil cargoes from the United States for the first time, drawn by the lower price for US oil versus global benchmarks, three trade sources said on Tuesday.

Reliance, the owner of the world's biggest refining complex at Jamnagar, is joining state-run refiners Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp in importing US crude. The purchase illustrates the vast reach of US oil exports since the government rescinded a decades-long ban at the end of 2015.

For this purchase, Reliance bought 1 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland and a similar-sized cargo of Eagle Ford crude, both of which are expected to arrive in November, the sources said.

US producer Occidental Petroleum Corp sold the WTI Midland cargo, they said.

Reliance did not respond to Reuters' email seeking comments.

There was also no reply to an emailed request for comment from Occidental sent outside of US business hours.

Opportunities for Indian refiners to import more US crude increased after the discount for West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for US crude, to global benchmark Brent stretched to its widest since 2015 during September.

State-run Indian refiners have bought a total 7.85 million barrels of oil from the United States so far.

India's imports of US oil follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June when President Donald Trump said his country looked forward to exporting more energy products to India.