Contamination of crude oil to HPCL being “examined”, no damage or claim attributable says supplier

Responding to Hindustan Petroleum’s assertions about having obtained high-chloride content in the crude oil from their B-80 field, the Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOECL) said Tuesday (October 28, 2025) the company was examining the claims. More importantly, it informed “no loss or damage or claim is attributable to the company (HOECL)” as per the agreement. 

“The company will engage in discussion with HPCL for redressing the issues,” it stated in their communication to exchanges.  

HPCL found “very high salt and chloride” in the acquired crude oil  

On Monday (October 27), state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum had stated that a part of the crude oil it received from the B-80 Mumbai Offshore oilfield, operated by HOECL, was found to be carrying “very high salt and chloride content in the [acquired] crude oil”. It attributed them to have caused operational issues during processing, including corrosion in downstream units and yielding suboptimal outputs in their Mumbai refineries.  

HPCL had also stated that the claims and damages in line with contractual terms to be pursued. 

The explorer had entered into an agreement into a crude oil sales agreement with the refiner this September. The offtake and custody transfer were completed the same month entailing a volume of about 54.6 MT of crude oil. HOECL stated in their latest communication that the indicative quality of the crude, as underlined in the contract, was based on an independently approved lab report from July. It added that HPCL later took the sample and subsequently tested it themselves as well.  

Operations at B-80 recommenced this August 

HOECL had successfully re-moored the floating storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the basin this August. Re-mooring refers to fastening units that hold the floating platforms against wind, currents and waves. Production was temporarily halted June 27 in the west Indian basin owing to “adverse weather conditions”. The exploration company had stated August that production from both wells have recommenced with both being “under stabilisation”