No bids made in Indian Oil Corp tender for ships to carry Gulf cargoes

Indian Oil Corp has received no bids in ​tenders to charter vessels for lifting crude oil ‌and liquefied petroleum gas cargoes from ​ports within the Strait of Hormuz, ⁠said two trade sources familiar with the matter.

India's top refiner and fuel retailer last week floated three ‌tenders to charter a very large gas carrier (VLGC), a very large ‌crude carrier and a Suezmax.

Indian state ‌refiners ⁠mostly buy oil and LPG from ⁠the Middle Eastern producers on free-on-board basis.

A VLCC typically carries 2 million barrels of oil, and a VLGC ​can hold about ‌45,000 metric tonnes of LPG - a mix of propane and butane used in India mainly as a cooking gas. A ‌Suezmax carries about one million barrels of ​oil.

"No one wants to take a risk as yet of ⁠going into the Strait. Most ship owners are in wait-and-watch mode as they want clarity on ‌the terms of getting into the strait," said a ship broker.

Indian Oil was seeking to lift about 45,000 metric tonnes of LPG between June 30 and July 4 from the ports of Ras ‌Laffan in Qatar, Mina Al Ahmadi in Kuwait, or ​Ruwais in the UAE.

The refiner was looking to charter a VLCC ⁠to lift oil from Mina Al Ahmadi between ⁠June 28 and 29 and a Suezmax for loading cargo between June 29 ‌and 30 from Ras Al Khafji port in Saudi Arabia for deliveries on ​India's west coast.