India is reportedly conducting talks with the United States of America, with the aim of extending a waiver on sanctions imposed on Iran's crude oil exports, a senior Indian official told Reuters on Thursday, 31 January.
India is Iran’s second-biggest oil consumer. According to the report, which quoted the official, India has already reduced its purchase of Iranian oil and is deliberating on whether it should stop buying the oil completely.
Speaking to the news agency, Sanjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international co-operation in the oil ministry said:
“We are talking to the US on energy related aspects, including the waiver from sanctions. It is a continuous process.”
On an average, Indian imports of Iranian oil stand at around 300,000 b/d since December 2018, according to estimates by S&P Global Platts, an information platform of energy and commodities.
According to several analysts and data from cFlow, a S&P Global Platts trade tracking tool: “Iranian crude exports to India had been robust before the current sanctions were implemented. More than 600,000 b/d of Iranian crude was shipped to India in September 2018 while inflows were nearly 500,000 b/d in October 2018.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
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