India's oil imports from Iran fell by 41 percent in December to 302,000 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, as pressure from US sanctions took effect.
The United States introduced tough sanctions aimed at
crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy in November but gave a six-month
waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some
Iranian oil.
India is restricted to buying 1.25 million tonnes per month,
some 300,000 bpd. December imports from Iran were 9.4 percent higher than
November when some cargoes were delayed due to lack of ships, the tanker
arrival data showed.
Iran was the sixth biggest oil supplier to India in December
compared to third position it held a year ago and last month Tehran's share of
India's overall imports declined to 6.2 percent from 11.7 percent a year ago,
the data showed.
After abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, US President
Donald Trump is trying to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile
program and curb its support for militants in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and other
parts of the Middle East.
In 2018 India shipped about 13 percent more oil from Iran at
531,000 bpd as refiners boosted purchases ahead of the US sanctions drawn by
discounts offered by Tehran, the data showed.
Iran was hoping to sell more than 500,000 bpd of oil to
India in 2018/19, its oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said in February last year,
and had offered almost free shipping and an extended credit period to boost
sales to India.
In the previous fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2018
India refiners had cut purchases from Iran due to a dispute on the award of
development rights of a giant gas field.
In April-December 2018, the first 9 months of this fiscal
year, India's oil imports from Iran averaged about 533,800 bpd, up about 22
percent from a year ago, the data showed.
India's total oil imports in December were about 4.9 bpd, up
about 15 percent from a year ago, the data showed.
