Amidst the instability caused by the ongoing war in West Asia, a ship carrying Iranian oil to India has changed its route. Surprise is being expressed by this development and discussions have intensified. This tanker filled with Iranian crude oil was originally going to come to India, but now it is changing its route midway and heading towards China.
A tanker carrying US-sanctioned Iranian crude has changed its declared destination from India to China during its voyage, according to ship tracking data, raising doubts over India’s possible first import in nearly seven years. This Aframax ship named ‘Ping Shun’ is now heading towards Dongying, China carrying about 6 lakh barrels of Iranian oil. According to Kpler data, earlier this week the tanker had listed Vadinar in Gujarat as its scheduled destination. This development came to light when Indian refinery companies were exploring options to get Iranian oil through sea after Washington recently eased some sanctions.
If this consignment had reached India, it would have been the country’s first import of crude oil from Iran since 2019. The purchase was halted that year after the US imposed strict sanctions. According to Sumit Ritolia, principal research analyst (refining and modeling) of Kepler, the ship was heading towards Vadinar for the last three days, but just before reaching it, it diverted India from its destination and pointed towards China. He indicated that the change may be due to payment concerns.
According to Ritolia, sellers are now tightening the terms and demanding upfront or prompt payment, away from the earlier credit period of 30-60 days. The identity of the buyer and seller involved in this deal is not clear. However, the destination shown on the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) is not final and can be changed at any stage of the voyage.
As previously reported, Vadinar port is home to a 20 million tonne per annum capacity refinery operated by Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy. Ritolia said such changes are not unusual when shipping Iranian crude, but it reflects increased sensitivity to the financial terms and risks of these deals. He also said that if the payment issues are resolved, the consignment could be diverted to an Indian refinery. Additionally, this incident shows that commercial conditions are as important as logistics in delivering Iranian oil to countries other than China.
India’s oil ministry has said any decision to resume imports from Iran will be taken on the basis of technical and commercial feasibility. Before sanctions were tightened in 2018, India was a major buyer of Iranian oil and imported both light and heavy oil at favorable prices and according to refinery requirements. At one time the share of Iranian oil in India’s total imports was up to 11.5 percent. India imported 5,18,000 barrels of oil per day in 2018, which dropped to 2,68,000 barrels per day during the US limited waiver between January and May 2019. This import has been stopped since May 2019 and India started buying oil from the Middle East, America and other countries to compensate for it.
Read this only:
NIA takes over investigation in Malda violence: 35 arrested, AIMIM leader Mofakkarul Islam in custody
Palghar: 251 tribal families returned home with the help of VHP and Bajrang Dal.
Big action in Malda violence: YouTuber Akramul Bagani arrested
Comments are closed.