Reuters: Contrary to Previous Reports, India is Currently a Customer of Iranian Oil

Reuters reported on Friday night, citing its 'sources', that India has purchased 9 million barrels of oil from Iran. Two sources told Reuters that India remains a customer of Iranian crude oil in November, the month when U.S. oil sanctions against Iran begin. Bloomberg had reported on September 25 that India, one of Iran's largest oil customers, planned to buy no oil shipments from Iran for November. Bloomberg cited industrial and official sources stating that it is still unclear what China's plans for purchasing Iranian oil are, but regarding India, two major state-owned refineries, 'Indian Oil' and 'Bharat Petroleum', as well as Nayara and Mangalore refineries, had not made any requests to purchase Iranian oil for November. Contrary to this report, Reuters, citing two unnamed sources, states that India will purchase 9 million barrels of oil from Iran in November. Reuters noted that the refineries mentioned in Bloomberg's report would buy '6 million barrels from Indian Oil and 3 million barrels from Mangalore' alongside another company. This new report aligns with a previously published report indicating that the Indian government has allowed its refineries to continue purchasing oil from Iran. Donald Trump, who, like almost all Republicans, opposed the nuclear agreement with Iran, withdrew from the 'JCPOA' in May of this year. The first round of U.S. sanctions was reinstated in August, and the second and more severe round of sanctions, including oil sanctions, is set to return on November 4. In the meantime, it seems that India is trying to maintain its relationship with the United States while continuing to purchase crude oil from Iran. The Indian government may hope to receive a waiver from the Trump administration for its dealings with Tehran. In this context, last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during a visit to New Delhi, stated that the U.S. government would consider granting waivers to some Iranian oil customers like India, but ultimately these customers must reduce their purchases to zero. India is the second-largest customer of Iranian oil after China and last year averaged daily purchases of 577,000 barrels from Iran, accounting for 27% of Iran's total crude oil exports. Last year, Iran exported 2.1 million barrels of crude oil and 400,000 barrels of gas condensate daily.