AFP reported that a leading Indian oil group did not expect to receive supplies from Iran next month after Tehran warned it would halt shipments unless USD 5.0 billion payments dispute was resolved.

India is Iran’s second largest client after China and absorbs about 20% of its crude exports but Indian firms have been struggling for more than six months to pay Tehran due to international banking sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic over its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Bahmani chief of Central Bank of Iran has estimated India’s overdue crude payments at around USD 5 billion.

A source from private refinery Essar Oil said that we have got no intimation of allocation, which suggests there will be no oil coming in from Iran next month which imports 36 million barrels of oil each year from Iran. We had anticipated this. They had tied up for alternative supplies from four other countries in the Middle East.