US slaps sanctions on four Indian firms over Iranian oil trade

The United States sanctioned four Indian companies for allegedly shipping Iranian oil to buyers in Asia. The firms—Austenship Management Private Ltd (Noida), BSM Marine Ltd (Gurgaon), Cosmos Lines (Thanjavur), and Flux Maritime (Navi Mumbai)—have been accused of violating US and UN sanctions aimed at restricting Iran’s oil exports, the Indian Express reported. According to the US these companies played a critical role in transporting, selling, and marketing Iranian oil despite global sanctions. By facilitating these transactions, they allegedly helped bolster Iran’s economy, undermining international efforts to curb its oil trade. 

This is not the first time the US has targetted Indian companies, the newspaper said adding that in October, India-based Gabbaro Ship Services was sanctioned for alleged involvement in transportation of Iranian oil. In August and September, three India-registered shipping firms were sanctioned by the US over their alleged involvement in transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under American sanctions.

India’s crude oil imports from the US double in Feb, Russian imports cut by a quarter

The US sanctions forced India to cut Russian oil imports by about a quarter in February while the US oil imports to India  have nearly doubled amid the country’s plan to increase the purchase of American energy by two-thirds to $25 billion, reported ET.

The newspaper said an average of 1.07 million barrels per day (mbd) of crude oil was loaded in India-bound tankers during the first 20 days of February at Russian ports, down from 1.4 mbd in January, according to data obtained from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. The average crude loading for India-bound ships at US ports was 0.2 mbd, up from 0.11 mbd in January.

Exports to India from Saudi Arabia and Iraq also increased. Saudi Arabia loaded 0.91 mbd during February 1-20, up from 0.77 mbd while Iraq’s loadings increased to 1.08 mbd from 0.8 mbd. UAE’s average loading for India was 0.31 mbd during February 1-20 compared to 0.48 mbd in the previous month, the newspaper said.

‘Drill baby drill = Buy baby buy’: Fossil fuels take centerstage,  green energy back seat in Modi-Trump statement

The India-US energy partnership has gone back from Biden’s clean energy to simply energy under Trump. Climate mitigation, renewable energy, and clean energy supply chains were summarily missing from the Indo-US joint statement issued following Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump’s first bilateral meeting, reported the Indian Express.  

The focus is firmly back on fossil fuels as Trump announced an agreement that will see the US supplying more oil and gas, the outlet explained. Trump said the energy agreement “will restore the US as a leading supplier of oil and gas to India and will hopefully be their number one supplier.”

Soon after Trump announced that India has agreed to purchase US oil and gas, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz posted about the news. “Drill Baby Drill = Buy Baby Buy,” Waltz said in a post on X, the newspaper reported.

The report said this marks a clear departure from the “clean energy transition” initiatives that found place in a joint fact sheet of September 21, 2024, following Modi and Biden’s bilateral meeting in Delaware. While the two administrations started the Strategic Energy Partnership in 2018 during Trump’s first term, this was transformed into the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) in 2021 by Biden and Modi.

BP to reduce green investment, increase gas and oil production

Five years after BP set some of the most ambitious targets among large oil companies to cut production of oil and gas by 40% by 2030, while increasing investment in renewables, it is now expected to abandon it altogether, BBC reported. The report added that BP is confirming it is cutting investments in renewable energy by more than half in what chief executive Murray Auchincloss called a “fundamental reset”. In 2023, the company lowered this oil and gas reduction target to 25%. In 2024, BP’s net income fell to $8.9bn (£7.2bn) down from $13.8bn the previous year.

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