AsiaNews.it
India to pay Iranian oil by sidestepping UN sanctions
India imports 400,000 barrels of Iranian oil every day. Payments had been blocked in December following UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. Following lengthy negotiations, the two sides find a way for payments to flow again.
New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iran and India have resolved a payment dispute that was threatening to halt Iranian oil exports to India, which are crucial to New Delhi, because Indian payments had been halted in December by UN sanctions against Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme.
"Following bilateral negotiations, the two sides agreed to settle the outstanding bills as soon as possible," Ahmed Qalebani head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was quoted as saying by the Iranian Oil Ministry website Shana.
Payments will be made in two parts, with the first settled in the coming days.
India, which is Iran’s second most important customer, imports 400,000 barrels of crude per day from Iran, 12 per cent of its oil needs, and exports food, electronic equipment and steel to the Islamic republic.
The Reserve Bank of India halted Indian oil payments to Iran after a Hamburg-based Iranian-German bank faced sanctions last year and was unable to transfer money to Iran.
Sanctions do not ban oil purchases, but make it hard on bank transactions.
Iran does not accept payments in rupees and, in view of the situation, had threatened to stop supply oil as of 1 August.
NIOC’s Deputy Managing Director for International Affairs Mohsen Ghamsari noted that Iran had no problem in transferring oil payments from China, which imports 400,000 barrels a day.
Oil analysts believe Iran cannot afford to cut supplies to India or China despite payment difficulties, partly because it may quickly lose to its main rival Saudi Arabia.