Third Iranian oil shipment headed for India: Report

New Delhi, Apr 18: An Iranian vessel, carrying crude oil, is headed for India, making it the third such shipment from the Persian country in a span of one week, according to a media report.

The Iranian supertanker ‘Dorna’ was last seen in Iran just hours before the blockade and later appeared on the tanker tracker system off the southern coast of India, said the report.

The tanker is scheduled to deliver about two million barrels of crude oil to a refinery there, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported quoting TankerTrackers.

This is the third oil shipment that India has received from Iran in at least the past week, bringing the total amount of oil India has purchased from Iran to 6 million barrels, the report said.

Iran has been under US-led economic sanctions for several years, due to which India has been unable to import petroleum products from the Persian country.

Previously, Iran used to be one of the top sources of energy for India.

Recently, the US waived the sanctions for a month ending April 19, paving the way for various countries, including India, to import the petroleum products from Iran.

A few days back, the US said it is not going to extend the waiver beyond April 19.

The war in West Asia, which began on February 28, has caused massive disruption in the fuel flows from that energy-rich region, particulary due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical navigation corridor.

India has also been severely affected since it is heavily dependent on the crude supplies from that region. (BVI)