Reuters, New Delhi, 15 Dec 2011 – Turkey’s Halkbank has refused to open an account for India’s BPCL to settle payments for Iranian oil imports, three oil industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.
India and Iran have been struggling to find a permanent mechanism to settle their bilateral trade, especially since last year when India’s central bank scrapped a clearing house mechanism — a move welcomed by the United States, which is trying to isolate Tehran over its nuclear programme.
India has since been settling payments to Iran through Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank but that conduit remains vulnerable if Washington applies more pressure on Ankara to shut it down.
Iran is India’s second-biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia and exports total about $12 billion a year, meeting about 12 percent of India’s import needs.
