The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Saturday denied reports that an Iranian crude oil shipment destined for India had been redirected to China due to payment hurdles, asserting that such allegations were untrue.Explaining the situation, the ministry said: “News reports and social media posts about an Iranian crude shipment being diverted from Vadinar, India, to China due to ‘payment issues’ are factually incorrect. India imports crude oil from more than 40 countries, and companies have full flexibility to source oil from different sources and geographical areas based on commercial considerations.”Taking to the X social media platform, the ministry confirmed that Indian refiners have already secured their energy supplies for the coming months.
The report stated: “Amid supply disruptions in the Middle East, Indian refiners have secured their crude oil needs, including from Iran; there is no hurdle in paying for Iranian crude imports, contrary to circulating rumours.”
“It has been reiterated that India’s crude oil requirements will remain fully assured for the coming months.”Commenting on the allegations of pending payments, the ministry also clarified that changes in ship destinations are not unusual in global oil trade.
“Claims for ship diversions ignore how oil trading works. Bills of lading often carry indicative discharge port destinations and sea shipments can change destinations mid-voyage based on improved trade and operational flexibility.” This clarification comes after recent reports indicated that a tanker carrying Iranian crude changed its destination mid-voyage due to payment problems. Ship tracking company Kpler later reported that the Aframax tanker Ping Shun, which was earlier referring to Vadinar in Gujarat, was heading towards Dongying in China.
The shipment was expected to be the first shipment of Iranian crude to India since 2019.Regarding LPG supplies, the ministry also rejected the relevant claims, saying: “With regard to LPG as well, some of the allegations made are not true as the LPG vessel Sea Bird carrying about 44 TMT of Iranian LPG docked in Mangalore, India on April 2 and is currently unloading.”India has been a big buyer in the past, importing about 518,000 bpd in 2018 before volumes declined in 2019 during the sanctions-free period and eventually stopped.
Iranian crude oil previously represented about 11.5 percent of India’s total imports.
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Despite a recent US waiver that allowed the purchase of limited quantities of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days, financial restrictions, including Iran’s exclusion from the SWIFT system, continued to impact transactions. The exemption is set to expire on April 19, with an estimated 95 million barrels of Iranian oil currently stored on ships at sea.