Indian Oil to supply Mauritius' entire import requirement of petrol, diesel and ATF

New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will supply the entire import requirement of Mauritius for Motor Spirit (MS), High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under a five-year sales and purchase agreement with the State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement.

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The agreement was exchanged in Port Louis on August 20 in the presence of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, who was on a two-day official visit to the island. It was signed alongside a Government-to-Government (G2G) Memorandum of Understanding on oil and gas cooperation, concluded between Puri and Mauritius Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection John Michaël Tzoun Sao Yeung Sik Yuen.

The ministry described the agreement as an assured long-term supply commitment that provides Mauritius with security of supplies and shields it from price volatility. It said this is the first long-term supply agreement concluded by an Indian PSU oil marketing company outside South Asia in recent years. The statement said the agreement positions India as the country's anchor fuel supplier and strengthens India's footprint in the Indian Ocean region.

The statement does not carry the contracted volumes, the pricing formula or the premium payable.

Return after a seven-year gap

India was the sole external supplier of petroleum products to Mauritius for over a decade through Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). MRPL first contracted with STC in 2006. In 2010, it signed a three-year agreement to supply 1.1 million tonnes a year of ATF, MS, gasoil and furnace oil.

That arrangement ended in 2019. Sik Yuen told a press conference in Port Louis on May 6 that since the end of the G2G accord with India in 2019, Mauritius has sourced its petrol, diesel, Jet A1, marine gas oil and heavy fuel oil requirements from international suppliers.

Ruchita Beri, Senior Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, said that India had supplied petroleum products to Mauritius from 2007 through MRPL and that the arrangement ended in 2019.

Heavy fuel oil sits outside the agreement

STC is the sole importer of petroleum products for Mauritius' inland requirements. Its remit covers fuel for public transport, industry, private vehicles, aircraft refuelling at SSR International Airport and the Central Electricity Board's (CEB) thermal turbines. STC says its total annual imports for domestic and international requirements have exceeded 1.1 million metric tonnes.

The heavy fuel oil that CEB burns for power generation is procured under a separate contract. That contract is currently held by Sahara Energy Resource Ltd. Sik Yuen told the National Assembly that STC awarded it through emergency tenders after 2Rivers DMCC, formerly Coral Energy DMCC, informed STC in December 2024 that it could not complete deliveries following UK sanctions. The award has been the subject of repeated questioning by Opposition Leader Joe Lesjongard.

At the May 6 press conference, Sik Yuen put national stock cover at 34 days for petrol, 39 days for diesel, 25 days for Jet A1 and 27 days for marine gas oil.

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Import dependence and the downstream chain

Mauritius has no refining capacity and no domestic crude production. According to figures cited in the US International Trade Administration's country commercial guide, imports met 90.9 percent of the country's primary energy requirement in 2024, with petroleum products accounting for 61.1 percent and coal for 29.8 percent. Total primary energy requirement stood at 1,614,872 tonnes of oil equivalent in 2024.

Cargoes are discharged at Port Louis into shore tanks belonging to CEB and four local oil companies. These are Vivo Energy (Mauritius) Ltd, TotalEnergies Marketing Mauritius Ltd, Engen Petroleum Mauritius Ltd and Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd. The four companies retail through roughly 171 filling stations. Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd is, therefore, both a downstream customer of STC and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the incoming import supplier.

Bunker storage at Mer Rouge

Puri participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for a 27.5 TMT bunker marine fuel storage facility being built by Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd at Mer Rouge, Port Louis.

Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd was registered on October 24, 2001 and began operations in 2004. IOCL describes it as the second-largest petroleum company in Mauritius by turnover, operating 33 filling stations. The subsidiary describes itself as the leading supplier of jet fuel on the island.

Biofuels framework launched

The MoU also covers training and capacity building for Mauritian officials, and cooperation in biofuels through knowledge exchange, research and training.

Mauritius is a founding member of the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA), launched during India's G20 presidency. The ministry said the GBA Secretariat has partnered with Mauritius' Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities to develop a Biofuels Country Landscape Policy framework. Puri and Mauritius Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Patrick Gervais Assirvaden witnessed its launch on August 21.

The ministry said India produces 267 MMT of refined petroleum products annually across 23 refineries and is a net exporter of refined products. It said India has met its supply commitments to Nepal and Bhutan through the ongoing West Asia crisis.

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