India is set to receive its first oil from Iran in seven years after the U.S. temporarily removed sanctions on Iranian oil and refined products to ease supply shortages, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed on Wednesday.
State-run Indian Oil Corp purchased the cargo, currently on the Curacao-flagged very large crude carrier Jaya, which is heading to India’s east coast and is set to arrive later this week, the data showed.
Indian Oil, the country’s top refiner, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
The Jaya initially went to Southeast Asian waters for discharge in China before heading to India, LSEG ship tracking shows.
LSEG data shows another carrier Jordan is signalling India as its discharge location.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, has not received a cargo from Tehran since May 2019, following U.S. pressure not to buy Iranian crude, but supply disruptions from the U.S.-Israel war have hit the South Asian nation hard.
India’s oil ministry last week said that refiners have purchased Iranian oil because of the Middle East conflict that has disrupted supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically carries about 20% of global crude supply.
The ministry also said last week that refiners are not facing any problems with payments for Iranian oil purchases.
Kpler data also shows that Iranian crude oil on water is near record-high levels above 180 million barrels in April.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by YP Rajesh, Kim Coghill and Christian Schmollinger)