Indias Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily says his country will continue to import crude oil from Iran despite illegal US-engineered embargoes against the Islamic Republic's oil and financial sectors."As far as Iran is concerned, there are a lot of constraints, but at the same time, within the constraints, we are importing the oil from Iran, he told reporters after a meeting with Japanese oil ministry officials in Tokyo on Monday.
In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 30, Moily wrote that crude oil imports from Iran will save his India over USD 8.5 billion in hard currency.
An additional import of 11 million tons during 2013-14 would result in reduction in forex outflow by USD 8.47 billion, the Indian oil minister said.
Indias oil shipments from Iran are estimated to rise to 4 million tons in the current fiscal year.
India is among Asias major importers of energy and relies on the Islamic Republic of Iran to meet a portion of its energy demands.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on September 1 that there are appropriate grounds for further cooperation between Iran and India in the oil and gas sector.
At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Irans oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
In June this year, India won a 180-day waiver from US sanctions targeting oil trade with Iran.
Indias crude oil imports from Iran increased by 21.1 percent in June 2013 compared to a year earlier.
By Press TV
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