As U.S. sanctions on Iran are about to kick in later this year, Indian oil refiners reduced their orders for Iranian crude oil in June by 12 percent compared to May, India’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Parliament on Monday. Some big Indian refiners worry that their access to the U.S. financial system could be cut off if they continue to import Iranian oil, and have started to reduce purchases from Tehran. Yet, last month’s Indian imports from Iran were still higher than imports in June 2017, when Indian refiners had slashed imports from Iran, in a possible retaliation for Tehran not awarding the development of a gas field in Iran to Indian firms. “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,” Reuters quoted Pradhan as telling the lower House of Parliament […]