New Delhi: In January, India slashed imports of Iranian oil as it scrambled to bring its purchases from the OPEC member in line with 2013 levels, as per data obtained from trade sources and ship tracking data.
India took about 273,500 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude in January, a decline of 21.5 percent from the previous month, the data showed. The imports were about a third less than a year ago.
India is Iran`s top client after China. The cuts still leave India`s daily average volumes for the April-January period above sanction limits as Iran and world powers try to outline an agreement by March 31 to end Tehran`s isolation in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. U.S. President Barack Obama said early this week that extending the March deadline would not be useful if Tehran has not agreed by then to a basic framework that assures world powers it is not pursuing nuclear arms.
They have set a June 30 final deadline for a full accord, and Western officials have said they aim to agree on the substance of that deal by the end of next month. Sanctions on Iran were softened at end-2013 as discussions on a final resolution began, allowing Asian buyers of Iranian oil to maintain purchases at then-current levels.
