India seeks 3m tonnes of Iraqi crude

India is seeking a term contract for three million tonnes a year or 60,000 bpd of crude oil from Iraq, a top oil ministry official told reporters yesterday.

"We have already talked to American officials. We want a term contract for at least three million tonnes of Basrah Light crude," the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.

Industry officials told Reuters a team of officials from state-run refiners will visit Iraq this month to scout for crude oil supplies.

The team will include officials of Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest refiner, exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corp, which has an exploration block in Iraq, and private firms seeking a role in reconstruction of Iraq, he said.

Indian refiners are keen to secure term supplies for Basrah Light crude after Iraq resumes normal oil exports, he said.

Iraq's crude exports ground to a stop in early March in the lead-up to the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussain. Iraq made its first overseas sale last month under a tender process. Before the war, India imported two to three million tonnes of Iraqi crude a year from the spot market.

"The delegation of oil industry officials will visit Iraq in July. We hope to sign contracts for supply of Basrah Light crude," an industry official said.

Between December 1996 and early 2003, Iraq marketed its crude under a UN oil-for-food programme, a humanitarian lifeline for 22 million Iraqis living under the sanctions that began in 1990.