Essar’s Oct. Iran Oil Imports Fall

Indian private refiner Essar Oil’s imports from Iran fell by about 27% in October from a year ago to about 183,000 barrels per day as the company diversifies its crude purchases, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and ship-tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal, Reuters reported. Russian oil major Rosneft and its partners, including global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, in August closed a deal to acquire a 98.3% stake in Essar Oil for $12.9 billion, giving the consortium a foothold in Asia and securing a new outlet for its oil. Essar Oil’s imports from Iran in October were about 88% higher than the previous month, the data showed. During January to October, the refiner received about 20% less oil from Iran at about 140,000 bpd, the data showed.