20 July 2012India's the only private refiner Essar Oil more than trebled monthly imports from Iran to 114,700 barrels per day (bpd) in June, 2012 compared to 32,500 bpd in the same month of last year, Reuters reported with the rference to tanker discharge data.
According to data, Essar, returned to importing Omani crude in June after a gap of 29 months, as the complexity of its plant has also been increased to process heavy and ultra heavy grades.
Essar imported 125,200 bpd in January-June, 2012, which represented nearly 44 percent of the company's overall oil imports.
In January-June, 2011 the company imported 102,800 from Iran.
Iran's economy is under pressure of international sanctions against the country's oil industry and its Central Bank. July 1 marked the start of the European Union's embargo against Iran's oil, adding even more stress to the country's economy.
Imposing tougher sanctions means that Iran's oil carriers, or any ship carrying Iran's oil, are no longer insured as 95 percent of shipping companies are covered by the EU insurance.
The sanctions are part of an effort by the U.S. and to make Iran become more transparent about its nuclear development programme. Iran says its programme is peaceful and civilian in nature, while the West disagrees. |
