SME Times News Bureau | 23 Apr, 2019
The government on Tuesday said it is "adequately
prepared" to deal with the impact of the US decision to end waiver for
importing oil from Iran and that it will continue to work with Washington and
other partner countries to find "all possible ways" to protect its
energy and economic security interests.
"Government has noted the announcement by the US
government to discontinue the Significant Reduction Exemption to all purchasers
of crude oil from Iran," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh
Kumar said in a statement here, a day after the US announced the decision.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas said, "The Government of India has put in place a robust
plan to ensure that there is adequate supply of crude oil to Indian oil
refineries from May 2019 onwards.”
"There will be additional supplies from other
major oil producing countries from different parts of the world. The Indian
refineries are fully prepared without any problem to meet the national demand
for petrol, diesel and other petroleum products in the country, “the
statement added.
The US on Monday announced that sanction waivers for India,
China, Japan, South Korea and Turkey would not be renewed when they expire on
May 2. The decision is intended to deny Iran its principal source of revenue.
In November, the US reimposed sanctions on exports of Iranian oil after
President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six
world powers.
India imports close to 10 per cent of its domestic oil
requirement from Iran. Though the imports fell slightly in 2018-2019 following
the US sanctions, it is still significant at close to 20 million tonnes per
annum.
Iran is also a commercially attractive oil exporting country as it offers
better terms for oil to India including a 60-day credit period and discounts on
oil and insurance.