INDIA TO RESUME BUYING OIL FROM IRAN ONCE US SANCTIONS EASE

NEW DELHI: India will look to resume buying crude oil from Iran the moment US sanctions are eased, helping it diversify its import basket, a senior government official said.

India stopped importing oil from Iran in mid-2019 following sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation by the Donald Trump administration.

The US and other world powers are meeting in Vienna to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

“Once the sanctions are lifted, we can look to resume oil imports from Iran,” the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.

Indian refiners have begun preparatory work and can swiftly enter into contracts once the sanctions are lifted, he said.

“We already have a template for commercial terms and we can very quickly enter into contracts the moment Iran is cleared for exporting oil,” the official said.

Iranian oil coming into the market will not just cool prices but also help India diversify its import basket.

In 2020-21, Iraq was India’s biggest oil supplier, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Nigeria was fourth-largest supplier and the US was the fifth.

“We have been advocating for oil producers to pump in more oil by easing output caps,” the official said. “Rising oil prices are a threat to the fragile economic recovery around the globe including in India.” India, he said, did not advocate for such output increases when prices were within a certain reasonable limit.

“We voiced our concerns when oil crossed $63-64 on a sustained basis,” he said. “We want prices that are reasonable for producers and affordable for consumers.”