Iran: No More Free Oil Shipping for India

Iran and India have reached an agreement on terminating free shipping of Iranian crude oil to India which was in place for three years during the sanctions against Tehran. 

Iran decided to ship its oil for free on board its tanker fleet in 2013 as international companies were reluctant to do so following imposing of sanctions in order to maintain its exports.

Now that the sanctions have been lifted, Iran wants to be reimbursed for the outstanding debts, with the payments being made in Euros instead of Indian rupees, Mehr news agency reports.

The deal has been reached during Indian Oil Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan’s recent visit to Iran which included bilateral talks on oil purchase, development of Farzad-B gas field and investment in petrochemical projects, the National Oil Company of Iran (NIOC) said.

According to Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, two more banking channels will be opened to handle the transactions, paving way for Iran to be paid USD 6.5 billion that India owes to the Persian Gulf nation.

The debt is expected to be paid in installments.

As for the future shipments, Iran has offered a 50% discount for transportation of oil.