India Sees 17% Boost in Iran Oil Imports: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – India’s imports of Iranian oil witnessed a 17 percent growth in September compared to its imports in August, media reports said.
According to ship tracking data, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), India's biggest refiner, accounted for most of September's rise from the previous month, taking a very large crude carrier carrying two million barrels of oil for its recently commissioned 300,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Paradip refinery on the nation's east coast, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
IOC's first purchase of Iranian crude in four months helped lift imports of the oil to 233,200 bpd in September compared with 198,800 bpd in August, the tanker arrival data showed. The September intake was down 3.4 percent from a year ago.
India's imports from Iran in the first nine months of the year were dragged down by deep cuts in shipments by New Delhi in the first quarter of 2015, under pressure from the United States to keep its imports within the limits of anti-Iran sanctions.
In the first half of India's fiscal year, running over the six months April-September, its oil imports from Iran jumped 16.7 percent as refiners stepped up purchases following the July deal that may mean the removal of sanctions sometime next year.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
The promising prospect of trade with Iran has prompted many countries to explore the market potential in the populous Middle East nation.
