Country's crude oil requirements fully secured for months, says India while emphasizing there was no payment issues with Iran

The Slate Bureau

New Delhi: In the backdrop of reports over an India-bound tanker carrying Iranian crude oil changing course mid voyage to China over payment issues, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Saturday that there are no payment issues with Iran for crude imports even as “India’s crude oil requirements remain fully secured for the coming months”.

“The news reports and social media posts of an Iranian crude cargo being diverted from Vadinar, India to China due to “payment issues” are factually incorrect. India imports crude oil from 40+ countries, with companies having full flexibility to source oil from different sources & geographies based on commercial considerations,” the Ministry said in a post on X.

The Ministry clarified that amid Middle East supply disruptions, Indian refiners had secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran and that there was no payment hurdle for Iranian crude imports, contrary to the rumours being circulated.

The claims on vessel diversion ignore how oil trade works. Bills of Lading often carry indicative discharge ports destinations and on-sea cargoes can change destinations mid-voyage based on trade optimisation and operational flexibility, it added.

On LPG too, some claims being made are incorrect as LPG vessel Sea Bird carrying around 44 TMT Iranian LPG berthed at Mangalore in India on April 2 and is currently discharging.

Ship-tracking firm Kpler had stated on Friday that Aframax tanker Ping Shun, built in 2002 and sanctioned by the US in 2025, is now signalling Dongying in China as its destination instead of Vadinar in Gujarat, which it had indicated earlier this week. This had fueled newsreports over non payment.

Dismissing the news reports as "factually incorrect", the ministry aid oil on Ping Shun would have been the first Iranian crude that India would have purchased since 2019. Indian refiners have been looking at opportunities to purchase a few cargos of Iranian oil on water following the recent sanctions waiver by Washington.

With respect to LPG, the ministry pointed out that an LPG vessel, Sea Bird, carrying about 44,000 tonnes of Iranian LPG, berthed at Mangalore on April 2 and is currently discharging cargo.

Historically, India was a major buyer of Iranian crude, importing significant volumes of Iranian light and heavy grades due to strong refinery compatibility and favourable commercial terms. However, following sanctions in 2018, imports ceased in May 2019, with volumes replaced by Middle Eastern, US and other grades. At peak, Iranian crude accounted for 11.5 per cent of India's total imports.

India used to buy 5,18,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2018, which slowed to 2,68,000 bpd between January and May 2019 when the US granted waivers to a few buyers. There have been no imports since. The key grades that Indian refiners used to purchase are Iran light and Iran heavy crudes.

The US last 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 April 19. An estimated 95 million barrels of Iranian oil are on vessels at sea, of which around 51 million barrels could be sold to India, and the remaining are better suited for buyers in China and Southeast Asia.

Ping Shun is estimated to be carrying about 6,00,000 barrels of oil that was loaded from Kharg Island around March 4. Its declared ETA to Vadinar in Gujarat was April 4, according to Kpler.

(With inputs from PTI)