By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, March 25 (Reuters) - India has bought its first cargo of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas in years after the U.S. temporarily removed sanctions on Tehran's oil and refined fuels, LSG trade flows and three industry sources said.
India had shunned energy purchases from Iran in 2019 under pressure from Western sanctions. The tanker was initially bound for China, according to LSEG data.
Sanctioned tanker Aurora carrying Iranian LPG is expected to shortly reach the west coast port
of Mangalore, the sources said and LSEG data showed.
The South Asian nation has been hit hard by the disruption of energy shipments via the Strait of Hormuz caused by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
THREE RETAILERS TO SHARE LPG CARGO
The Iranian LPG cargo will be shared among the three fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
The cargo has been purchased from a trader, and payment will be made in rupees, the sources said, adding India is exploring buying more Iranian LPG cargoes.
Still, an official said he was not aware of Iranian cargoes being bought.
"(There are) no loaded cargoes from Iran, we have not heard of that," said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the federal shipping ministry said Wednesday at a press conference.
The three companies and India's oil ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
MOST OF IMPORTED LPG FROM MIDDLE EAST
The world's second-largest LPG importer is battling its worst gas crisis in decades with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from any shortage of cooking gas.
India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.
India is gradually moving out its stranded LPG cargoes from the Strait of Hormuz, with four LPG tankers moved so far--Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Pine Gas, and Jag Vasant.
India is also loading LPG onto its empty vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
