India has bought its
first cargo of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas in years after
the U.S. temporarily removed sanctions on Tehran’s oil and
refined fuels, LSG trade flows and three industry sources said.
India had shunned energy purchases from Iran in 2019 under
pressure from Western sanctions. The tanker was initially bound
for China, according to LSEG data.
Sanctioned tanker Aurora carrying Iranian LPG is expected to
shortly reach the west coast port of Mangalore, the sources said
and LSEG data showed.
The South Asian nation has been hit hard by the disruption
of energy shipments via the Strait of Hormuz caused by the
U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
THREE RETAILERS TO SHARE LPG CARGO
The Iranian LPG cargo will be shared among the three fuel
retailers, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp
, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
The cargo has been purchased from a trader, and payment will
be made in rupees, the sources said, adding India is exploring
buying more Iranian LPG cargoes.
Still, an official said he was not aware of Iranian cargoes
being bought.
“(There are) no loaded cargoes from Iran, we have not heard
of that,” said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the
federal shipping ministry said Wednesday at a press conference.
The three companies and India’s oil ministry did not
immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
MOST OF IMPORTED LPG FROM MIDDLE EAST
The world’s second-largest LPG importer is battling its
worst gas crisis in decades with the government cutting supplies
for industries to shield households from any shortage of cooking
gas.
India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking
gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand.
About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.
India is gradually moving out its stranded LPG cargoes from
the Strait of Hormuz, with four LPG tankers moved so
far–Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Pine Gas, and Jag Vasant.
India is also loading LPG onto its empty vessels stranded in
the Persian Gulf.