India cuts Iran oil imports ahead of US sanctions

Refiners in the country cut imports of Iranian oil last month, as they started weaning their plants off crude from the country to avoid sanctions by the US that are set to take effect in November.

India’s monthly oil imports from Iran declined to 592,800 barrels per day (bpd) in June, down 16 per cent from May, according to data from industry and shipping sources.

The US in May said it would reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a 2015 agreement with Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany, and Britain, where Tehran had agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of earlier sanctions.

India, Iran’s top oil client after China, asked refiners last month to prepare for drastic reductions or even zero Iranian oil imports.

The first set of sanctions will take effect on August 6 and the rest, notably in the petroleum sector, following a 180-day “wind-down period” ending November 4.

US officials said in June they would push countries to reduce their Iranian oil imports to zero.

“The Trump administration will push for zero crude, condensate and products exports from Iran,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, head of East of Suez Oil at energy consultancy FGE. “

Overall, India’s oil imports in June rose 10.1 per cent from a year ago to 4.82 million bpd, data showed.