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Mar 08, 2013
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Iran oil imports may stop as sanctions scare insurers away
India is set to halt all crude imports from Iran with insurance companies saying that refineries processing the oil will no longer be covered due to Western sanctions, head of refiner MRPL said on Friday.India is Iran's second-largest buyer, accounting for around a quarter of its oil exportsworth around $1 billion a month.
“If a cover is not available, all Indian refiners will have to halt imports from Iran or else they will have to take a huge risk,” PP Upadhya, managing director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, said.MRPL is India's biggest buyer of Iran crude.“Insurance companies said if I buy Iranian crude, my refinery's insurance cover will be cancelled...If we don't get insurance for the refinery, we will have to stop buying Iranian crude.”It was not immediately clear why this has become an issue now, several months after Europe and the US introduced tough sanctions aimed at Iran's oil trade to force Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.
Source -
http://www.financialexpress.com
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