Saudis step in as Iranian oil dries up - Hindustan Times

Saudi Arabia has agreed to sell 3 million barrels of additional crude oil to India next month to make up for supply cut by Iran over unpaid bills, touching $7 billion. Saudi Aramco, the national oil firm of Saudi Arabia, will supply one million barrels each to Essar Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum in August while Mangalore Refinery, too, is in talks to contract similar volumes, officials said on Tuesday.

Iran, which had towards the end of June warned of stopping exports to India unless dues are cleared, has not informed refiners of crude shipments for the month of August.

The additional supplies committed by Saudi Arabia is roughly one-third of what India imports from Iran, officials said, adding that more crude was being contracted from the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait as well as Latin America. Oil exports from Iran make up for about 12% of India’s oil needs.

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