India continues to buy Iranian crude, image credit: ANI
A tanker carrying a consignment of about 600 kb of Iranian crude oil is heading towards India’s Vadinar port, data from commodity firm Kpler shows in what may be the first purchase of Iranian oil by India since 2019.
While the Indian government has not commented on any such purchase, ship and vessel commodity market analytic firms are reporting that Ping Shun- a vessel carrying about 600 kb of Iranian crude oil consignment is heading to India’s Vadinar port and is likely to reach the destination by April 4.
According to commodity market analytics firm Kpler, the Aframax Ping Shun loaded with Iranian crude oil from Kharg Island in early March has emerged as the first vessel observed signalling a destination of Gujarat’s Vadinar since May 2019, following sanction reimposition on Iranian oil by the first Trump administration.
Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst, Refining and Modeling at Kpler remarked that the Indo-Iranian oil trade has flickered back to life.
“Following the US administration’s decision to grant a 30-day window for Iranian oil “on the water” due to regional conflict, the vessel Ping Shun is now en route to Vadinar with 600 kb of crude. This is the first such delivery since May 2019 and comes at a critical time for Indian refiners facing tightening inventories,” he said.
Ritolia added that Aframax Ping Shun loaded with Iranian crude oil from Kharg island in early March has emerged as the first vessel observed signalling a destination of Vadinar, India since May 2019, following sanction reimposition on Iranian oil by the first Trump administration.
“Amid the Mideast Gulf conflict and subsequent oil price volatilities, the US administration temporarily lifted sanctions for over 30 days against Iranian oil on water loaded before 20 March. The tanker is estimated to have loaded approximately 600 kb from Kharg Island around 4 March, with a declared expected time of arrival (ETA) to Vadinar on 4 April,” Ritolia added.
According to Kpler data accessed by TDG/NewsX exclusively, the vessel Ping Shun has loaded crude from Iran’s Kharg island at least twice in 2025 (in March and July 2025) and at least once from Sakhalin I, a consortium for production of oil and gas on Russia’s Sakhalin Island in February 2025.
Speaking to TDG, Ritolia said that based on voyage reconstruction, Kpler assesses that Ping Shun likely transited the Strait of Hormuz (SOH) inbound around 24 February and exited laden from the Kharg Island around 18 March.
The Kharg Island is the biggest energy hub of Iran’s energy deposits.
“The vessel loaded the crude on March 4 and possibly stayed at the Kharg Island before departing from there on March 18. This movement could indicate a potential resumption -albeit opaque- of Iranian crude flows towards Indian refiners. However, the final destination of the vessel that shows Vadinar at present may be subject to change,” he said.
Kpler data accessed by TDG further shows that the Vadinar terminal has received less crude in March as they are dependent on Iraq for getting crude oil consignments.
Speaking to TDG, a highly-placed official source confirmed that the vessel Ping Shun is indeed approaching India’s Vadinar port where it is expected to arrive by April 4.
However, joint secretary (marketing and oil refinery) at the Ministry of Petroleum and National Gas said that she was not aware of any such purchase as of now.
An Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) spokesperson said that the consignment does not pertain to any purchase by the IOCL.
India and Iran have been traditional partners with oil being the backbone of this relationship for years and India had depended on Iranian crude oil to meet its growing energy needs. In return, India exported food items, medicines, machinery, and other goods to Iran but when the US reinstated strong sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, several countries including India were forced to cut down on Iranian imports.
From 2019 onwards, India reduced its oil imports from Iran drastically turning to countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq for its oil imports.
A Reuters report had earlier said that Iranian traders had offered Iranian oil to Indian refiners at a premium to ICE Brent after Washington had temporarily removed sanctions to ease the energy crisis.
Last week, Reuters had issued another news report stating that India’s Reliance Industries had purchased 5 million barrels of Iranian oil after the US granted a temporary waiver but the company had denied the report saying that it had not purchased crude oil of Iranian origin.
“Reliance Industries Limited categorically rejects recent media reports that the company has purchased crude oil of Iranian origin,” it said in a statement last Thursday.
Syed Ziyauddin is a media and international relations enthusiast with a strong academic and professional foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jamia Millia Islamia and a Master’s in International Relations (West Asia) from the same institution.
He has work with organizations like ANN Media, TV9 Bharatvarsh, NDTV and Centre for Discourse, Fusion, and Analysis (CDFA) his core interest includes Tech, Auto and global affairs.
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