BP, Shell, Goldman Mull Indian Oil Stockpile Deals
BP, Royal Dutch Shell (RYDAF), Goldman Sachs, Trafigura, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. have expressed interest in filling India's strategic oil reserve at Padur in the southern Karnataka state.
* India Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd., which is building the crude stockpile, had invited initial interest from bidders by end-December to fill the 18.4 million barrel (bbl) facility
* Three of the six bidders sought clarity on issues including taxation and division of storage for commercial and strategic purposes - gov't report
* India has filled its 9.77 million bbl Vishakhapatnam strategic storage in Southern Andhra Pradesh with Iraqi oil, and half of its 11 million barrels Managalore facility in Karnatak with Iranian oil
* Last year India signed deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to lease remainder of the Mangalore storage, but the company has not yet supplied oil due to taxation issues (Reporting by Nidhi Verma
