India’s oil imports from Iran fell by about 23 percent over January-June as refiners curtailed shipments in the early months of the year to keep volumes within the limits allowed under an interim nuclear deal in place since the end of 2013, based on a report by Reuters on July 3, 2015.
India shipped in 216,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran in the first six months of 2015 compared with 281,000 bpd a year ago, according to preliminary data from trade sources and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.
In March, Indian refiners had halted imports from Iran for the first time in at least a decade to meet a fiscal year target of 220,000 bpd, dragging down the average daily purchases for the January-June period.
India, the world’s fourth biggest oil consumer and Iran’s top client after China, received 283,900 bpd oil from the OPEC member in June, a decline of about 23 percent from May but up about 70 percent from the same month last year.
Iran and six world powers are currently in talks to end a decades-old deadlock over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Western countries suspect Iran of seeking the capability to make a nuclear weapon.
The two sides gave themselves an extra week from a self-imposed deadline of June 30 to reach an accord that would curb Tehran’s nuclear activity in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that were toughened in early 2012. The hardened sanctions cut Iran’s crude exports by more than half to around 1 million bpd and cost it billions in oil payments.