Iran denies halt in container, oil trade with India

A senior Iranian oil official has dismissed reports of disruption in oil and container trade between the Islamic Republic and India over insurance coverage.

“Iran’s oil exports to India are going on without any problem,” Safar Ali Keramati, deputy head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for crude oil marketing, said on Thursday.

He added that India’s Ministry of Shipping has approved the insurance cover provided by Iranian underwriters, Moallem Insurance Company and Kish P&I Club, for Iranian vessels to dock in Indian ports.

Keramati added that Iranian officials are working to resolve long-term problems with the extension of insurance coverage for oil tankers in a bid to avoid any possible disruption in the future.

“At present, three Iranian oil tankers are making call at Indian ports, and no problem whatsoever will occur in the approval of insurance for oil tankers carrying [oil] to India for three months,” the official stated.

Quoting industry sources, Reuters news agency reported on October 8 that some Iranian ships were left stranded outside ports in Iran and India.

India is among Asia’s major importers of energy and relies on the Islamic Republic of Iran to meet a portion of its energy demands.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed harsh sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.

India has won waivers from the US sanctions targeting oil trade with Iran. The country’s crude oil imports from Iran increased by 21.1 percent in June 2013 compared to a year earlier.