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India imported 6.74 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran during the first nine months of current fiscal, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
The imports during April-December are 61% of the target of buying 11 million tonnes of oil from the Persian Gulf nation in the current fiscal.
In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaaka Lakshmi said India imported 13.14 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in 2012-13, down from 18.11 million tonnes in the previous year.
India since last fiscal has cut import of crude oil from Iran after the US and European nations' sanctions made shipments and payments difficult.
The US had in November 2013 extended by six-month Iran sanctions waiver to India in exchange for it reducing purchases of Iranian crude oil this year.
Lakshmi had in December told Rajya Sabha that India had imported 5.82 million tonnes of oil from Iran in April-November. This implies that India bought 0.92 million tonnes of oil from Iran in December.
In 2010-11, India had imported 18.50 million tonnes of crude oil from the Persian Gulf state, she said in the written reply to the Lok Sabha today.
"Quantum of crude oil imported by Indian refineries from various sources is decided by them on the basis of technical, commercial and other considerations," she said. "The oil companies finalise the term contract volume based on techno-economic and energy security point of view."
Iran, which was India's second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia in 2010-11, slipped four places to become its seventh-largest crude oil supplier in 2012-13.
India had in 2011-12 relegated Iran to third spot with 18.11 million tonnes of imports. These were behind 32.5 million tonnes from Saudi Arabia and 24.1 million tonnes from Iraq.
Iran had in 2009-10 supplied 21.2 million tonnes which came down to 18.5 million tonnes in 2010-11 and to 18.1 million tonnes in the year after.
