MUMBAI
ESSAR Oil, one of the key Indian clients of Iran, imported about 20 percent more oil from the sanctions-hit nation in September compared with August and made rare purchases of the Neutral Zone’s Ratawi and Egypt’s Belayim grades, according to tanker discharge data made available to Reuters.
Essar has renewed its term deal with Iran to buy 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the financial year ending March 31, 2013, but company sources said the refiner plans to cut purchases by 15 percent after a verbal directive from the government.
However, the refiner has shipped in an average 103,100 bpd in the April- September period.
Essar bought only a small volume from Iran in September 2011, when it had fully shut its plant for an upgrade.
The private refiner has significantly raised processing of heavy and ultra-heavy grades, including those from Latin America, to improve refining margins.
The company began replacing Latin American crudes with locally produced Mangala oil in 2010, but has now turned back to the region to feed its expanded capacity. It has an annual deal with Colombia’s Ecopetrol to import 12 million barrels of Castilla crude oil.
Essar aims to buy 15-20 percent of its crude oil needs from the domestic market, 35-40 percent from Latin American sources, and 30-40 percent from the Middle East, it said in May.
The refiner imported about 110,600 bpd of oil in three Iranian tankers — the Castor, Gardenia and Clove — becoming the biggest Indian buyer from Iran in September.
Essar got nearly 43 percent of its crude imports from Iran in the first nine months of the calendar year. Overall imports by Essar rose over 57 percent during January-September to about 286,000 bpd, the data shows. Total Indian oil imports from Iran rose 53 percent in September from August, the data also showed.
However, imports from the OPEC member fell about 19 percent in the first half of this fiscal to about 257,000 bpd, potentially helping New Delhi win a renewal of a waiver from US sanctions.
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