India loaded 12 percent less Iranian oil in June than in May on sanctions fear

Indian refiners ordered about 12 percent less Iranian oil in June than in May, when the U.S. said it would reintroduce sanctions on Iran, but sales remained around 50 percent higher than a year ago.

Refiners in India, Iran's top oil client after China, are weaning themselves away from Iranian oil after the U.S. pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The first set of sanctions will take effect on Aug. 6, and the rest, notably in the petroleum sector, following a 180-day "wind-down period" ending on Nov. 4.

Indian refiners bought around 664,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in June, according to a statement presented by oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the lower house of parliament.

Although that represented a fall from the previous month, purchases were still higher than a year ago.

"Indian refineries imported 1.9 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in June 2017 and placed orders for 2.82 million tonnes in June 2018," Pradhan said in the statement.

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