NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Two Indian

refiners have bought 4 million barrels of Guyanese crude oil

from U.S. major Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) to be delivered at the end

of 2025 or in early 2026, in rare imports from the South

American producer, trade sources said on Friday.

Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest refiner by

capacity, has bought 2 million barrels of Golden Arrowhead (GAH)

crude, its first purchase of the grade, which will arrive in

late December or in early January, they said on condition of

anonymity.

Another refiner, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, has

bought Liza and Unity Gold crude for the first time, with 2

million barrels set for delivery during the same period, the

sources said.

India is diversifying its crude supplies by trying out new

grades from South America where production is growing.

Adding more crude sources would also help refiners to

replace some imports of Russian oil. The U.S. is pressuring New

Delhi to stop buying Russian crude to help end the war in

Ukraine.

Guyana is ramping up exports as its oil production from a

consortium led by Exxon has risen to 770,000 barrels per day

(bpd) following the start-up of the group's fourth floating

output facility.

The country's crude exports reached an all-time high of

938,000 bpd in October, data from analytics firm Kpler showed,

since it started exports of the latest grade GAH in July.