Colombia’s state-run oil company Ecopetrol said Wednesday it has signed a contract worth approximately $1.2 billion with one of India’s main private refining companies.
The contract states that Ecopetrol will provide the Indian company with 12 million barrels of crude oil over a period of one year, in shipments of two million barrels each, the Colombian oil company said in a statement.
Though Ecopetrol did not identify which Indian company they signed with, they have already begun to fulfill the contract. The first shipment of two million barrels was sent out on July 29 in one of the most modern vessels of the category VLCC (Very Large Crude Carriers), which was constructed in 2010. The shipment is expected to arrive in India in early September.
“This export contract offers Ecopetrol advantages because it assures a systematic sale of oil with a prearranged price,” said the company after indicating that the agreement also strengthens their commercial strategy of providing oil to end users.
Ecopetrol is one of Latin America’s biggest oil companies. According to its annual report, Ecopetrol’s exports in the first part of 2012 reached almost $10 billion, an increase of 23.3% from the same period in 2011.
