Indian refiners will decide on buying Iranian crude oil based on techno-commercial feasibility, a senior Petroleum Ministry official said Monday. It is, however, not clear how new potential buyers of Iranian crud—including India—will make payments for any Iranian crude they might buy. Technically, this move will not really increase the global oil supply — Iranian oil was already part of it with China’s purchases — but will enable other countries also to buy Tehran’s oil. In 2016-17, Iranian oil made up 12.6% of India’s total crude oil imports of almost 215 million tonnes. In 2017-18, India’s Iranian oil imports were at 23.9 million tonnes, and crashed to just 2 million tonnes in 2019-20.

Source: Indian Express March 23, 2026 19:55 UTC