India Receives First Iranian Oil Cargo in 7 Years

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Alexandr Popadin

JAKARTA - India will receive crude oil shipments from Iran for the first time in seven years, The Independent reported based on LSEG and Kpler ship tracking data on Wednesday.

The cargo was purchased by Indian Oil Corp, a state-run company that is India's largest refiner. The cargo is now on board a giant tanker, the Curacao-flagged Jaya, which is heading for India's east coast and is expected to arrive this weekend.

LSEG data shows that the ship originally sailed to Southeast Asian waters to unload cargo in China, before changing course to India. The same data also shows another ship, Jordan, signaling India as a discharge destination.

For India, this is the first shipment from Tehran since May 2019. Since then, India has not received any Iranian oil cargo after the United States' pressure not to buy crude oil from the country.

According to a report by The Independent, quoted on Wednesday, April 8, the situation has now changed after the United States temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian crude oil and refined products to help ease global supply shortages.

India is the world's third largest importer and consumer of oil. The country was also affected by supply disruptions amid the conflict in the Middle East which pressured energy distribution channels. Supplies through the Strait of Hormuz were also disrupted, although this route is usually used by about 20 percent of the world's crude oil supply.

Last week, India's Ministry of Petroleum said that manufacturers in the country were buying Iranian oil because the conflict in the Middle East had disrupted supplies. The ministry also said that payments for Iranian oil purchases had so far not faced any obstacles.

Meanwhile, Kpler data reported by The Independent showed that Iran's crude oil volume still at sea in April was close to a record high, above 180 million barrels.