U.S. waiver will help india bUy oil from iran

‘India is willing to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes or 15 million tonnes in a year, down from 22.6 million tonnes bought in the 2017-18 financial year.’

Reacting to the waiver, India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said, “India and other leading oil buyers would benefit from the US waiver they have been granted.”

Calling it India’s victory in putting its picture correctly to the world, Pradhan credited this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal equations with the US and his insistence “that interest of consuming nations cannot be overlooked”.

“That has been recognised by the US and it’s a big win. In the current geo-politically challenging scenario, India has managed to get its point convinced by international leaders. A country like India will benefit from this and India’s efforts will be beneficial to other consuming countries,” Pradhan said.

The US had previously wanted countries, including India, to completely halt oil purchases from Iran by 4 November when its full sanctions against Tehran come into force, but seems to have relented keeping in mind the global oil price crisis it can cause. Particularly for India, already battling a fuel price crisis ahead of the upcoming state and eventually the general elections, the exemptions are a big relief.

Pompeo added, “We expect to issue some temporary allotments to eight jurisdictions, but only because they have demonstrated significant reductions in their crude oil and cooperation on many other fronts and have made important moves towards getting to zero crude oil importation.”

India, which is the second biggest purchaser of Iranian oil after China, is willing to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes or 15 million tonnes in a year (300,000 barrels per day), down from 22.6 million tonnes (452,000 barrels per day) bought in the 2017-18 financial year, sources said.

In May, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA), terming it as “disastrous”. After the US’ withdrawal from the deal, Trump signed fresh sanctions against Iran and warned countries against any cooperation with Tehran over its controversial nuclear weapons programme.

“The sanctions are against the Iranian regime to change its behaviour, and not targeted against its people.”