Indian buying Iranian crude without any payment hurdle

Indian refiners are buying crude from Iran as part of their efforts to secure oil supplies amid the disruption in energy flows due to the West Asia war and there are no payment-related hurdles in paying for Iranian oil, the government said Saturday.

It also said that the recent diversion to China of an India-bound oil tanker carrying Iranian crude was not due to “payment issues”.

This is the first official confirmation from the government that India is buying Iranian crude, following the sanctions waiver for Iranian oil on water announced by the US last month. The government also confirmed that a tanker carrying 44,000 tonnes of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) berthed at Mangalore on April 2 and is currently discharging the cargo. It also reiterated that India’s “crude oil requirements remain fully secured for the coming months”.

Eswatini-flagged tanker Ping Shun with around 600,000 barrels of Iranian oil, which was approaching the Vadinar port in Gujarat, late Thursday changed its declared destination to Dongying in China’s Shandong province. 

Trade sources had indicated that payment-related issues could be the reason behind the diversion. For nearly seven years now, India has not imported Iranian oil, and this was expected to be the first delivery.