Amidst the ongoing war in the Middle East and supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, India has again started buying oil from Iran. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas gave this information on Saturday (April 4, 2026). India, which is the world’s third largest oil importer, has bought oil from Iran for the first time since May 2019. At that time, due to American pressure, India had stopped taking Iranian oil.

The ministry said that in view of the supply problems in the Middle East, Indian refineries have secured their required crude oil, which also includes oil purchased from Iran. It was also said that there is no problem related to payment in purchasing oil from Iran. Last month, America temporarily lifted some sanctions imposed on Iran’s oil and petroleum products in view of supply shortage. After this it became easy for India to buy oil from Iran.

The news reports and social media posts of an Iranian crude cargo being diverted from Vadinar, India to China due to “payment issues” are factually incorrect. India imports crude oil from 40+ countries, with companies having full flexibility to source oil from different sources…

— Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas #MoPNG (@PetroleumMin) April 4, 2026

Government of India’s exemption to companies

According to the government, India has ensured its entire requirement of crude oil for the coming months. India imports oil from more than 40 countries and companies have the freedom to buy oil from anywhere as per their need and price. Apart from this, India has also purchased 44,000 metric tons of LPG from Iran. This gas has been brought from a ship which was earlier banned. The ship reached Mangaluru port in Karnataka on Wednesday and gas is being unloaded there. This decision is being seen as an important step to maintain fuel supply for India in the current situation.

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