India's oil imports from Iran fell for the fourth straight month in November to touch an eight-month low, as its two biggest buyers cut purchases to meet annual targets.
Western sanctions against Iran's controversial nuclear programme limits the Gulf country's oil exports to 1-1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), with buyers such as India curbing annual purchases to 220,000 bpd. The country's year-on-year imports from Iran fell nearly 45% to about 138,100 bpd in November-a 24% drop from October.
India's January-November imports from Iran shrank by about a quarter to 206,000 bpd, dragged down by deep cuts in shipments by New Delhi in the first quarter of 2015 under pressure from the United States to keep its imports within the limits of sanctions. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year that began in April imports are down by about 1% at 235,400 bpd.