India purchases oil from Iran for first time in seven years: Report
India Today reported that India, which was once forced to abandon Iranian oil under US sanctions, has turned back to Tehran, with an oil tanker carrying Iranian crude heading to the Asian country for the first time since May 2019.
According to ISNA on Thursday, after the US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 and Strait of Hormuz traffic was disrupted, Washington issued a waiver allowing India to purchase oil and gas from Russia and Iran, both sanctioned by the US.
According to India Today, an oil tanker carrying Iranian oil with a foreign flag is expected to dock at Vadinar in Dindayal Gujarat port by April 4.
While New Delhi has turned back to discounted Russian crude that once triggered US President Donald Trump's tariffs, the purchase of Iranian oil represents a significant shift in India's energy supply.
However, an official from India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways expressed ignorance about this. Mokesh Mangal, reacting to the news that an Iranian oil tanker is heading to India, said: "The government has no specific information about this ship."
Tensions have been heightened following the joint US-Israeli aggression on Iran on February 28. While major shipping companies have suspended operations in the region, tankers linked to Iran continue to transit the strategic waterway.
The Economist reported on Sunday that Tehran is currently exporting between 2.4 and 2.8 million barrels of oil per day.
The publication noted that while Iranian tankers continue to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is now selling nearly twice as much oil as before February 28.
With the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, the publication wrote that 15 percent of world oil cannot reach its customers. All Persian Gulf countries have reduced their production and are seeing a decline in export revenues, but Iran has been an exception.
Iran is exporting the same amount of oil and petroleum products per day, if not more, as it did on average last year, according to a source who spoke to the Economist.
Also, Bloomberg reported that Iranian oil is trading at a price higher than Brent, the global benchmark, for the first time since May 2022.
Brent crude traded at $109 per barrel in Friday's trading.