Iranian crude returns to India after seven years as tankers dock at key ports

New Delhi: Two supertankers carrying Iranian crude have arrived at Indian ports on both the east and west coasts, marking the first such deliveries in nearly seven years, according to ship-tracking data.

Felicity, a very large crude carrier operated by the National Iranian Tanker Company, anchored off Sikka on Gujarat's coast late Sunday, carrying about 2 million barrels loaded at Kharg Island in mid-March.

A second tanker, Jaya, moored near Paradip on Odisha's coast around the same time. It is transporting a similar volume of crude, lifted from Kharg Island in late February, before the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, followed by Tehran's retaliation.

The shipments are the first Iranian crude cargoes to reach Indian shores in nearly seven years, following a sanctions waiver issued by the United States last month.

The one-month exemption permitted the sale of Iranian oil already in transit, aimed at easing global supply disruptions and containing prices.

However, after peace talks collapsed over the weekend, Washington announced a blockade of Iranian ports, seeking to curb Tehran's oil export revenues.

The buyers of the cargoes reaching Indian coasts have not been formally disclosed.

Paradip port is primarily operated by Indian Oil Corporation, which has confirmed purchasing at least one Iranian shipment under the waiver. Sikka, meanwhile, is a key crude handling hub for Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, both of which maintain infrastructure in the region.

Late last month, the tanker Ping Shun, carrying about 600,000 barrels of Iranian crude, was initially bound for Vadinar in Gujarat but diverted to China mid-voyage due to payment issues.

Had it reached Vadinar, oil on Ping Shun would have been the first Iranian barrels to reach Indian shores in seven years.

Historically, India was a major buyer of Iranian crude, importing significant volumes of Iranian light and heavy grades due to strong refinery compatibility and favourable commercial terms.

Following sanctions tightening in 2018, imports ceased from May 2019, with volumes replaced by Middle Eastern, US and other grades. At peak, Iranian crude accounted for 11.5 per cent of India's total imports.

India used to buy 518,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in 2018, which slowed to 268,000 bpd between January and May 2019 when the US granted waivers to a few buyers. There have been no imports since.

The key grades that Indian refiners used to purchase are Iran light and Iran heavy crudes.

The US last month waived sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil at sea for 30 days in its latest attempt to ease oil prices that have been driven up by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

That window expires April 19. An estimated 95 million barrels of Iranian oil is on vessels on sea, of which around 51 million barrels could be sold to India, while the remaining are better suited for buyers in China and Southeast Asia.