9NOVEMBER 2025HPCL & MRPL ACQUIRE 5M BARRELS US MIDEAST OILCIL & DVC JOIN 21,000 CR THERMAL POWER PROJECTHindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL)purchased 2 million barrels each of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude and Abu Dhabi's Murban crude, both scheduled for January delivery.On the other hand, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) bought 1 million barrels of Basra Medium crude, which is expected to arrive between January 1 and 7. The seller's identities and pricing details have not been revealed.CoalIndiaLtd(CIL)alongwithDamodarValleyCorporation (DVC) entered a strategic partnership to expand a thermal power project in Jharkhand. The total outlay for the project is estimated to be around 21,000 crore.The collaboration is a move to not only increase India's baseload power generation capacity but also to look for new possibilities in thermal and renewable energy projects in the future.The two largest Indian state-owned refiners have bought 5 million barrels of crude oil in the spot market, according to local trade sources. This is part of their ongoing strategic pivot away from Russian supply.These purchases are a response to the political pressures resulting from the U.S. sanctions on Russia's two major oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. These sanctions, which were imposed by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, were intended to force Putin to end the war in Ukraine by putting pressure on him through these two companies.Indian refiners have been steadily cutting back on Russian oil after the sanctions have been imposed and risks related to them have been voiced. MRPL has stopped buying Russian oil as it was uncertain and was concerned about regulations. At the same time, HPCL in recent months has reduced the volume of its imports from Russian crude and decided to not make any further purchases there.The purchases serve as a testament of India's bigger plan to shore up its energy security through source diversification strategies amid the ongoing geopolitical upheavals in the world. Indian refiners will continue to buy oil from the U.S., the Middle East, and Iraq to keep their supply chain stable and mitigate the risks associated with pricingandoperations.The project of expansion is at DVC's Chandrapura Thermal Power Station (TPS) and the project will have two ultra-supercritical units of 800 MW each, i.e., a total installed capacity of 1,600 MW.Theamountof21,000croreisinclusiveoftheexpens-es for development, construction, and commissioning of both units. India's energy demands will be met in the near future as the project is due to open for business in 2031-32. The brownfield expansion will be done at the Chandrapura location, where the existing infrastructure will be used for efficient methods of implementation and faster execution.The project being situated in a coal-rich region is, according to a top CIL official, going to result in competitive power costs besides catering to the regional and national energy needs.The move shows how CIL is playing the leading role as the major source of domestic coal production, with a contribution of over 80 percent of India's coal output, and also how DVC is becoming stronger in the power sector.Such collaboration is a strategic synergy, realigning the two heavyweight energy players toward the Indian Power Sector's sustainability and reliability goals. Moreover, it helps foster the development of the energy infrastructure intheresource-richJharkhandstate.
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