Iran oil import to be cut over gas field row

New Delhi, April 1: state refiners will cut oil imports from Iran in 2017-18 by a fifth, as New Delhi takes a more assertive stance over an impasse on a giant gas field that it wants awarded to an Indian consortium, sources familiar with the matter said.

India, Iran’s biggest oil buyer after China, was among a handful of countries that continued to deal with the Persian Gulf nation despite Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

However, previously close ties have been strained since the lifting of some sanctions last year as Iran adopts a bolder approach in trying to get the best deal for its oil and gas.

Unhappy with Tehran, India’s oil ministry has asked state refiners to cut imports of Iranian oil.

“We are cutting gradually, and we will cut more if there is no progress in the matter of the award of Farzad B gas field to our company,” one of the Indian sources said.

Indian refiners told a National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) representative about their plans to cut oil imports by a fifth to 190,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 240,000 bpd, officials present at the meeting said.

IOC and Mangalore Refinery and Petroch-emicals Corp will reduce imports by 20,000 bpd each to about 80,000 bpd. Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp will together cut imports by about 10,000 bpd to roughly 30,000 bpd, they said.