INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
per cent in January to 270,500 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, below the estimated 300,000 bpd for
the month as some cargoes were delayed.The United States introduced sanctions aimed at crippling Iran's oil revenue-dependent economy in
November but gave a six-month waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.India is restricted to
buying 1.25 million tonnes per month, some 300,000 bpd
January imports from Iran were 10.4 per cent lower than December, the tanker arrival data showed.Iran was the seventh biggest oil supplier
to India in January compared with sixth in December, and slipped from third position it held a year ago
showed.After abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, US President Donald Trump is trying to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic
missile programme and curb its support for militants in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.In the first 10 months of
this fisal year that began in April, country's oil imports from Iran rose by 14.5 per cent to 507,000 bpd as refiners boosted purchases
India in 2018/19, its oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said last year, and had offered almost free shipping and an extended credit period to
lift same volume in March as they took in February, a government official said.In February, IOC placed an order for 5 million barrels, MRPL
for 2 million barrels and HPCL and BPCL for 1 million barrels each
None of the companies responded to a Reuters email seeking comments.In the previous fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2018 Indian refiners
cut purchases from Iran due to a dispute on the award of development rights of a giant gas field.Government sources say Reuters'
calculations showing nation's oil imports from Iran in this fiscal year would be higher than the 452,000 bpd, or 22.6 million tonnes, it
imported in the previous year, were correct.Total oil imports in January were about 4.6 million bpd, a decline of about 10.4 per cent from a
year earlier, the data showed.
