Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), the main purchaser of Iranian oil in India, plans to reduce imports from Iran by 44% to 80,000 barrels daily due to sanctions, Iran News reports.
China and Japan may be the next to reduce oil imports from Iran. Iran is the second largest oil supplier of India, after Saudi Arabia. Japan is having negotiations with Washington to reduce oil imports from Iran by 20% this year.
Foreign ministers of 27 EU states met in Brussels on January 23 and approved the embargo on Iranian oil exports. The new package of sanctions includes a gradual ban on imports of petroleum from Iran. The embargo will come into full force on July 1. Greece, Spain and partly Italy were the main consumers of Iranian oil in the EU. They are the weak points of the euro zone economy. 35% of oil supplies in Greece come from Iran.
Iran is suspected of developing a military nuclear program. The US and EU have been pressurizing Iran diplomatically and economically to abandon the program for years.
