India to reduce oil purchases from Iran by 11 percent

India to reduce oil purchases from Iran by 11 percent

Tuesday, May 15, 2012: India has scummed under the rising pressure from United States of America and has decided to cut the purchases of oil from Iran by 11 percent.

US want Iran to dispose-off its nuclear programme, but the Islamic republic is continuing with the project. Therefore the United States has levied certain sanctions upon them and has urged other countries to join a drive to isolate
Iran.

Indian refiners expect to import 15.5 million metric tons of crude from Iran in the fiscal year that began April 1, the country’s junior oil minister told parliament in a written reply, down from 17.44 million tons last ear.

The move comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week urged India to reduce its imports of Iranian oil as Washington readies a law to go into effect next month to slap sanctions on nations that buy oil from Tehran.

“To reduce its dependence on any particular region of the world, India has been consciously trying to diversify its sources of crude oil imports to strengthen the country’s energy security,” junior oil minister RPN Singh said.

The size of imports from various sources depends on technical, commercial and other considerations, Singh added.

The US embassy in New Delhi said it could not immediately comment on whether the reduction in Iranian imports would be enough avert US sanctions.

The sanctions, from which the European Union and Japan have already been exempted, will affect banks from countries that keep buying Iranian oil.

But during her visit to India, Clinton praised New Delhi for its efforts towards cutting imports, while India’s foreign minister SM Krishna said “this issue is not a source of discord between our two countries.”

Energy-scarce India, which imports four-fifths of its crude, says it shares the US goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=22425

Posted by Wajahat Javed on May 16 2012. Filed under Business, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry