Reuters cited one of the two industry sources as saying that “at this point of time Iranian crude is attractive ... it is faring better than spot cargoes and other crudes.”
The move by BPCL comes ahead of November US deadline for re-imposing sanctions on the Iran’s petroleum sector, following Trump’s unilateral pullout from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
Reuters had previously reported that India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, owner of the world’s biggest refining complex, plans to halt oil imports from Iran.
The reports come as Iran and India have recently discussed ways to expedite the formation of a mechanism to withstand US sanctions, including rupee-rial trade.
According to sources in oil industry, both countries are in consonance over the barter-like system, wherein Iran would allow India to make a portion of oil payments in Rupee through the state-run UCO Bank, which has no US exposure, reported Sputnik.
India is Iran’s top oil client after China, and its oil imports and payment mechanism have not been affected by US sanctions so far.
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