The White House has warned lawmakers that tightening sanctions on Iran could push the US on a "march to war" and derail a diplomatic push to limit Tehran's nuclear programme.
Besides IOC, ONGC Videsh Ltd has also sought two discovered fields from the 16 fields that Iran is likely to put on auction shortly
Officials from India's biggest private refiner recently visited Iran to chalk out the details for resumption of trade ties with Tehran.
Geo-political reasons are to be blamed for spike in global oil prices, he says.
A massive drone strike on the world's largest crude-processing facility operated by Saudi Arabia's Aramco has driven oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months. The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply.
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Iran has complained of irregular shipments
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said India has ramped up the import of crude oil from Russia at discounted prices amid sanctions on Moscow as part of the country's inflation management. "In a situation where global prices were going beyond anyone's affordability, at that stage to take a very strong political decision, I respect the prime minister for his courage on this to get it from Russia because they are ready to give it to you at discount. And how speedily did we manage to do it," she said. India ramped up its import from Russia from about 2 per cent of the total shipment of petroleum products to 12-13 per cent in a couple of months as part of inflation management, she said at a seminar organised by economic think-tank Icrier.
The reimposition of sanctions on Iran will have major impact on countries like India, with which it has traditional and historic trade relationship.
China is also providing supertankers and insurance coverage to move Russian Urals crude to PRC ports, as Moscow seeks vessels for exports after a G-7 oil price cap restricted the use of Western cargo services and insurance.
Turkey's state-run Halkbank can only resume processing Indian oil payments to Iran once Western sanctions are officially lifted following an interim deal in Geneva last month, a senior Halkbank official said on Wednesday
Amid reports claiming America has threatened India with sanctions if it does not reduce its Iranian oil imports by June end, United States officials on Friday said Washington and New Delhi are having "productive conversations" on the issue and termed the reports as "highly speculative".
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
Teheran bargains on OilMin plan for more rupee payment via increased import; wants investment deal on gas block.
Replacing Iran, which is India's third largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia, will not be a problem but margins will be hit as Tehran offers the best commercial terms
Low fuel prices to help oil marketing and refining sectors but upstream players will stay under pressure.
The surge in oil prices has also affected the rupee, which hit a 6-week low of 70.25 on Friday against the dollar.
Indian imports of Russian oil plunged by a record in August month-on-month (M-o-M) as discounts on the fuel shrank in tandem with rising Brent oil prices. Higher crude prices will drive inflation or hurt earnings at oil companies and India's fiscal position if such spikes are not passed on to consumers. Indian purchases of Russian crude declined by around 24 per cent in August from July to the lowest level since January, with refiners expecting volumes to drop further amid rising rates of Russian benchmark Urals grade, substantial stocks at refiners, and planned maintenance at Indian refineries, according to ship tracking data and industry officials.
Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as the market prepared for a gradual increase of Iranian exports into an already oversupplied market from 2016.
India will need to travel back in time and seek inspiration from football greats Tulsidas Balaram and Chuni Goswami to deftly dribble around and sidestep the West-imposed price cap on exports of Russian seaborne crude oil. India depends on imported oil to meet 86 per cent of its needs, of which nearly a quarter now comes from Russia. The copious flows are roughly 10 per cent cheaper than competing suppliers helping India save billions of dollars in fuel costs.
Brent crude was trading at $105 a barrel on Friday while US oil was at $96.75.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, ending 3.48 per cent lower. Tata Steel, Vedanta, Bajaj Auto, TechM, RIL, Hero MotoCorp, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and Infosys too fell up to 2.33 per cent.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's top oil firm, has bought as much as 3 million barrels of crude oil that Russia had offered at steep discount to prevailing international rates, sources said. The purchase, made through a trader, is the first since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine that brought international pressure for isolating Putin administration. Sources aware of the matter said IOC bought Urals crude for May delivery at a discount of $20-25 a barrel to dated Brent.
Fourteen of the 15 Council members voted for the American draft resolution which would give the 'occupying\npowers' control of the country's oil resources, which they have promised to use for the benefit of the Iraqi people.
An influential Republican senator has asked India to "just quit" buying oil from sanctions-hit Iran.
Keeps open the option to make payments in yen or yuan in the face of sanctions
State Bank of India (SBI) is willing to work with Russian banks not facing sanctions and remain on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network to open a special rupee vostro account (SRVA) for invoicing in Indian currency. The country's largest lender in a statement said it has not been identified as the nodal bank for handling Russia-related transactions. In July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks in India, including SBI, to open an SRVA to promote invoicing in Indian rupee, subject to certain safeguards. Accordingly, the bank in a statement said it is "making necessary arrangements and processing requests received from various banks, including Russian banks", following guidelines laid out by the RBI.
While the tournament saw the emergence of young stars, the usual suspects, the big names flattered to deceive.
The exploration and production assets of Essar Oil will not be part of the Rosneft deal and would continue to remain with the Group.
The government is buying out the shares of India Ports Global, which are now held in a 60-40 ratio by the JNPT and Deendayal Port Trust in Kandla.
An oil crisis is set to further hit the fragile global economy.
The rising dependence on discounted crude oil has resulted in India's trade deficit with Russia hitting the second-highest place last year, after China, reveals Department of Commerce data. From April through January 2022-23 (FY23), India's maximum trade deficit was with China, at $71.58 billion. This was followed by Russia, where the deficit expanded sevenfold - from $4.86 billion in April-January of 2021-22 (FY22) to $34.79 billion during the same period in FY23.
OPEC's move to cut output has pushed up oil prices. From here it could go either way: oil could reach $100/barrel or an analysis of demand and supply might follow, say Abheek Barua & Bidisha Ganguly.
Cover inadequate for even one refinery.
Faced with soaring demand, stagnant output at home and a need to diversify from Iranian crude imports lost to Western sanctions, Indian oil companies are hungry for deals like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's ( ONGC's) Kashagan buy that promise supplies sooner rather than later.
Oil accounts for about a third of India's total imports and higher dollar prices combined with a rupee near all-time lows have increased its cost.
Western sanctions aimed at crippling Iranian finances by drying up buyers for its crude oil, had last year banned insurance cover to ships carrying Iranian oil.
Afraid of US sanctions, State Bank declines payment facilitation for oil imports from Iran.
India imported goods worth $4.23 billion in June from sanctions-hit Russia, up 6.8 times as compared to last year, as demand for shipments of crude oil grew at the fastest pace during the month. Crude oil worth $3.02 billion was imported in June, which translates into a share of 71 per cent of the total imports from Russia, commerce and industry ministry data showed. Similarly, during the April-June quarter, India's imports from Russia were valued at $9.27 billion, up 369 per cent on year.
India on Thursday described as 'matter of serious concern' reports that said some members of the Indian community in Canadian province of British Columbia received 'extortion calls'.
