MRPL first state refiner to charter Iraqi crude cargo since Hormuz blockade

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd has chartered a vessel to load crude oil from Iraq, the first Indian state-owned refiner to do so since the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, three shipping sources said. MRPL has booked the Aframax tanker Jasmin Joy to load crude from Iraq's Basrah oil terminal on July 19-20, the sources said. Indian state refiners have been struggling to secure ships to load crude from ports on the west of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies transited before the Israel-Iran conflict disrupted shipping in the region. MRPL, which operates a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.