India to cut Iranian oil imports by 11% this year
16 May 2012
Caving in further to US pressure, India has officially decided to cut crude oil import from Iran by over 11 per cent in this financial year.
Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas R P N Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that India would cut its Iranian crude supply to 15.5 million tonnes this year against 18.50 million in 2011-12.
India imports 80 per cent of the crude oil it consumes. Iran was meeting almost 12 per cent of this requirement, but this figure is dwindling over recent months.
India does not admit that the cutback on Iranian oil imports is under US pressure; insisting that displacement of Iran from its position as India's second biggest supplier of oil was due to a commercial decision by its refineries. Among other things, payment difficulties caused by the sanctions have resulted in India steadily reducing its dependence on Iranian crude.
The government decision seems a backtracking on its earlier statements that it was not possible for India reduce the imports from Iran drastically as the country was important in meeting India's growing energy needs.
The announcement in Parliament came soon after Carlos Pascual, the US special envoy on energy who has been negotiating with Iranian oil buyers to cut their imports, met officials from the foreign ministry, petroleum ministry, and others.
