First Iranian oil cargo since 2019 headed to Gujarat
India used to buy 5.18 lakh barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2018, which slowed to 2.68 lakh bpd between January and May 2019 when the US granted waivers to a few buyers
India’s first Iranian crude oil cargo since 2019 may be headed towards a port in Gujarat, suggests ship tracking data.
Indian refiners have been looking to purchase Iranian oil on water following the recent sanctions waiver by Washington.
“The Indo-Iranian oil trade has flickered back to life. Following the US administration’s decision to grant a 30-day window for Iranian oil ‘on the water’ due to regional conflict, vessel ‘Ping Shun’ is now en route to Vadinar (Gujarat) with six lakh barrels of crude. This is the first such delivery since May 2019 and comes at a critical time for Indian refiners facing tightening inventories,” said Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst (refining and modelling) at commodity market analytic firm Kpler.
While the identity of the buyer is unknown, Vadinar is home to an oil refinery of Russian giant Rosneft-backed Naraya Energy with 20 million tonnes a year capacity. It is also the landing point for crude oil that goes to hinterland refineries such as Bina refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).
India’s oil ministry has so far maintained that techno-commercial feasibility will drive the decision on resuming buying Iranian crude.
Historically, India has been a major buyer of Iranian crude, importing significant volumes of Iranian light and heavy grades due to strong refinery compatibility and favourable commercial terms.
With sanctions tightening in 2018, imports ceased from May 2019. At the peak, Iranian crude accounted for 11.5 per cent of India’s total imports.
India used to buy 5.18 lakh barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2018, which slowed to 2.68 lakh bpd between January and May 2019 when the US granted waivers to a few buyers. There have been no imports ever since.
The key grades that Indian refiners used to purchase are Iran light and Iran heavy crudes.
The US earlier this month waived sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days in its latest attempt to ease oil prices that have been driven up by the US-Israeli war on Iran. That window expires on April 19. An estimated 95 million barrels of Iranian oil is on vessels on sea, of which around 51 million barrels may be sold to India.
