Tehran, New Delhi to discuss energy ties

TEHRAN,May 1(MNA) - Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi and Indian Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily will hold new round of talks in the upcoming days in New Delhi about bilateral ties in different fields of energy sector. Joining India to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, replacing the U.S. dollar with the Indian rupee in oil purchases, and bartering Iranian oil with Indian goods will be the main topics of discussion. Discussing conditions of joining India to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will be also among topics of the meeting. India received a sanctions waiver from the U.S. State Department in December for reducing the amount of crude oil purchased from Iran. A senior official in the Indian Commerce Ministry said. "The Iran-India trade relations apart from oil are on the rise," the official said. "The Iranians have shown interest in import of various business commodities including agricultural products and any adverse decision on the crude oil front will jeopardize that great opportunity." India imported around 271,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil per day from April 2012 to February 2013, less than a target of 310,000 bpd. The U.S. and EU have shut down use of their financial systems for payment for Iranian crude, in the hope of starving Tehran of cash and forcing it to give up its nuclear program. Iran was India’s second-biggest crude oil supplier after Saudi Arabia in 2010-11 but is now its sixth-largest, behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Venezuela, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, sources said.