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.

Also read: ‘…then we will attack Kolkata’, Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif again shouted

The Indian government on Saturday (April 4, 2026) termed as false the reports which claimed that a tanker loaded with Iranian crude oil, which was earlier scheduled to come to India, is now changing its course midway and heading towards China due to ‘payment related problems’. The Petroleum Ministry said that India has not faced any payment related problem in securing the import of crude oil. India imports crude oil from more than 40 countries. Companies have complete freedom to buy oil from different places.

Why did the Iranian ship turn towards China?

A statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that the reports ignored how the oil trade works. The ministry said, the names of possible ports for unloading goods from the ship are often written in the bill of landing. Cargo ships running at sea can change their destination on the basis of operational freedom to improve business.

Government termed media reports as false

The ministry said, ‘Despite Middle East supply problems, India has met its crude oil needs including from Iran. Many reports mentioning payment related problems are false. India’s crude oil requirement for the coming months is completely secure. On the rumor spread regarding LPG supply, the government said, ‘The LPG ship named Sea Bird has reached Mangaluru Port on April 2 with about 44 thousand metric tons of Iranian gas and at present unloading is going on.’

Iranian ship was about to reach Gujarat?

Ship tracking company ‘Coupler’ claimed that the Aframax tanker named ‘Ping Shun’ is now moving towards Dongying, China as its destination instead of Vadinar in Gujarat. Recently, after the temporary relaxation of sanctions given by America, Indian refiners are exploring the possibility of purchasing some consignments of Iranian oil present in the sea. Sumit Ritolia, chief analyst of Coupler’s refining and modeling department, had claimed that the reason for the change in the destination of the ship could be the terms related to payment. A refinery with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum of Nayara Energy, backed by Russian oil company Rosneft, is located in Vadinar.

India has been a big buyer of Iranian crude oil

Ritolia said it is not unusual for Iranian crude to change destinations during its journey, but it shows that trade terms and financial risks have now become as important as logistics. India’s Oil Ministry has already said that the decision to resume purchasing Iranian oil will depend on technical and commercial feasibility. India has historically been a big buyer of Iranian crude oil.

Also read: Donald Trump’s weekly off canceled, he will not get leave amid Iran war, what is the whole matter?

Donald Trump: US President Donald Trump has given a big statement on Saturday. He said that instead of buying oil from Iran, India will buy oil from Venezuela. He made this statement while talking to reporters on his official plane Air Force One en route to Florida.

Trump said, “We have already made that deal. The concept of the deal is done.” He explained that ‘Concept of Deal’ means the basic structure of the deal, its understanding or preliminary agreement between the two parties before finalizing the deal.

‘China is also welcome’

Trump also said that if China wants, it can make a deal with America to buy oil from Venezuela and it is welcome.

US strategy and previous sanctions

Earlier, this information had come to light that America had told the Indian government that it can soon resume the purchase of oil from Venezuela, so that oil imports from Russia can be replaced. Three sources gave this information to Reuters.

The US move is seen as an attempt to reduce oil revenues that finance Russia, which is helping in the Ukraine war. In March last year, Trump had imposed a 25% tariff on countries buying oil from Venezuela, including India.

US President Donald Trump gave a big statement

US President Donald Trump had earlier praised the US-led initiative in the matter related to Venezuela. He said that this process is moving in a very positive direction and the export of oil from Venezuela is expected to resume soon. This entire system has been prepared with the support of Washington. During a conversation with the media in the Oval Office, Trump said, “The leadership is doing a very good job in the Venezuela situation. We are moving forward by maintaining better coordination with everyone associated with this entire process.”

He also told that many countries of the world will soon start buying oil from Venezuela and America will play an important role in this initiative. “We’re inviting the countries of the world. They’re going to start taking the oil. We’ll lead this whole plan, and so far it’s working very well,” Trump said.

Iranian oil shadow fleet: The US has taken a major action on the illegal transport of Iranian oil. Under this, an Indian citizen and four companies living in the United Arab Emirates involved in Iranian oil shipping have been banned. Two of these companies are from India.

The Indian citizen who has taken action on the US is named Jugwinder Singh Brar, whose own shipping companies. They have a large fleet of 30 oil and petroleum tankers, many of which serve as Iran’s shadow fleet i.e. group of tanker ships, which transport Iranian oil to different countries, violating restrictions. The US Department of Treasury gave this information in a statement on Thursday.

Brar makes Iranian oil deal in this way

Brar is the owner of India’s shipping company Global Tankers Private Limited and Petrochemical Sales Company B and P Solutions Private Limited along with taking care of several businesses. The Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has nominated Brar, two UAEs and two Indian institutions, which operate the ships of Brar carrying Iranian oil from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Iranian army.

Brar’s ships transfer the Iranian petroleum ship-to-Jhaj (STS) to Iraq, Iran, United Arab Emirates and the water area of ​​Oman’s Gulf. The goods then reaches other smugglers, which mix oil or fuel with other countries products and then manipulate shipping documents to hide relations with Iran. In this way, Iranian oil reaches the international market.

Iran depends on dishonest ships

The Secretary of Treasury Scott Besant said, “Iran depends on his oil network for the sale of its oil and his companies such as dishonest ships and brokers.” The Secretary of Treasury Scott Besant said that the US wants to focus on stopping those who benefit from Iran’s oil exports and its business.

Also read:

China is taking this crop full from India, 52,000 tonnes of purchased in three weeks; Work comes in this thing