India is expected to receive this week its first cargo of Iranian oil in seven years, after the U.S. last month unsanctioned purchases of Iran’s oil already loaded on tankers.
The world’s third-largest crude oil importer is set to import the cargo in the coming days, according to vessel-tracking data cited by Reuters.
Last month, the U.S. issued waivers for the purchase of Russian and Iranian crude on tankers in a desperate attempt to curb the surge in international crude oil prices.
India, which stopped importing Iranian crude in 2019 to comply with the U.S. sanctions, is now scrambling for crude supply as its imports from the other Middle Eastern producers account for about half of all its crude purchases. Supply from the Middle East has been severely constrained over the past weeks due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that India imports crude oil from more than 40 countries, “with companies having full flexibility to source oil from different sources & geographies based on commercial considerations.”
“Amid Middle East supply disruptions, Indian refiners have secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran; and there is no payment hurdle for Iranian crude imports, contrary to the rumours being circulated,” the ministry said in a post on X following reports that a tanker carrying Iranian crude has diverted from India to China.
“India’s crude oil requirements remain fully secured for the coming months,” the oil ministry noted.
Apart from buying Iranian oil for the first time in seven years, India has also returned to buying Russian crude en masse, thanks to a separate U.S. waiver.
India’s imports of Russian crude oil jumped by 90% in March versus February, following the major supply disruption in the Middle East and the U.S. waiver of purchases of Russian crude already loaded on tankers.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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