india

Updated: Jan 24, 2019 00:00 IST

With the US set to begin a review of the six-month waiver granted to eight countries for sanctions on Iranian oil imports, India plans to act in a manner that will protect its economic and national interests, people familiar with developments said.

The waiver will end in April and India believes two factors — a significant fall in imports by private refineries and a decision to buy more oil and gas from the US — will have a positive impact on the upcoming review by the Trump administration, the people said.

“We will have to take action in consonance with what our economic interests are,” said a person familiar with decision-making by the government, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

India’s oil imports from Iran fell 41% in December to 302,000 barrels per day (bpd) and Tehran’s share of New Delhi’s overall imports declined to 6.2% from 11.7% a year ago. The people cited above said this was largely due to cuts by private refineries.

India’s new envoy to the US, Harsh Shringla, told a reception hosted by the US-India Business Council last week that the country is committed to buying nearly $5 billion of oil and natural gas from the US. This is substantially higher than the purchases of $3.8 billion in 2018, and the people said the increased oil and gas imports from the US will also help address the trade imbalance.

After pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal President Donald Trump introduced tough sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s oil-dependent economy in November. Though eight nations were granted waivers, reports suggested that the US will whittle down this list during its review.

“We are engaged with all the stakeholders, especially since the imposition of the US sanctions on Iran. We have had several rounds of meetings with Iran, we also had several meetings with other stakeholders. I can tell you that India continues to import oil from Iran,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, adding matter is related to India’s energy security.