China rejects U.S. request to cut Iran oil Imports and India’s oil Imports from Iran jump to record-high In July, sources reported.
The U.S. has been unable to persuade China to cut Iranian oil imports, according to two officials familiar with the negotiations, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic after his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord.
Beijing has, however, agreed not to ramp up purchases of Iranian crude, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified because discussions with China and other countries continue. That would ease concerns that China would work to undermine U.S. efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic by purchasing excess oil.
China -- the world’s top crude buyer and Iran’s No. 1 customer -- has said previously that it opposed unilateral sanctions and lifted monthly oil imports from the country by 26 percent in July. It accounted for 35 percent the Iranian exports last month.
While,India’s state refiners boosted their Iranian oil purchases, pushing up Indian oil imports from Iran by 30 percent from June, to a record 768,000 bpd in July.
The arrivals included some crude oil shipments loaded in June that docked in India in July. State-run refiners accounted for around four-fifths of India’s oil imports from Iran.
India’s oil imports from Iran last month soared by 85 percent from the 415,000 bpd shipments in July 2017, according to the data obtained.
Iran became India's second-biggest supplier behind Iraq in the first three months of current fiscal, supplying 8.93 million tonnes of oil.
Iran's national currency revenues of oil export has witnessed 74 percent increase in spring, government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said recently.
The US has told its allies to cut all oil purchases from Iran to zero by November as it prepares to reinstate sanctions against the country.
The State Department said it does not plan to offer waivers or allow countries to wind down imports from Iran.
Oil prices jumped following the announcement.
In prior comments, the US had indicated it would consider waivers to the sanctions if countries could show progress toward reducing purchases.
Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, with exports worth billions of dollars each year.
