Middlemen Offer Discounted Iranian Oil To Indian Refiners

NIOC is indicating to buyers that Iranian crude would be three to four dollars a barrel cheaper than comparable regional grades on a landed basis, and traders are relaying the same message to potential purchasers. The intermediaries contacting refiners are mainly small and mid-sized trading companies based in Singapore and Dubai, according to sources who declined to be identified. Refiners said they will give priority to direct state sales where possible but are also assessing offers from third parties.

Refiners have limited scope to absorb additional Iranian crude in the near term because most supplies are already contracted through August and long-term Middle Eastern suppliers are pressing buyers to honour annual contractual commitments. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was already imported from Iran through traders and those flows could increase under the waiver, though commercial negotiations could take time because payment mechanisms and banking channels remain unclear. Potential crude and LPG supplies were discussed during the visit to New Delhi by the Iranian petroleum minister this week.

India received two cargoes of Iranian oil in April after Washington previously granted a 30-day waiver, with payments settled in Chinese yuan, and refiners noted that any expansion of trade will depend on clarity over settlement routes. Iran had been India's second-largest oil supplier in 2010-11 before US sanctions forced New Delhi to reduce purchases and eventually halt crude imports in May 2019. NIOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment because of a public holiday in Iran.