Al Jazeera
New Delhi says two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bound for ports in the country’s west have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in Iran.
“They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India,” Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi on Saturday.
Tehran has largely halted traffic through the key sea route that normally carries one-fifth of global oil supplies since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran late last month.
The war has prompted a critical shortage of cooking gas in India, a country with longstanding ties to Iran.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, said Tehran had allowed some Indian vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz in a rare exception to the blockade that has disrupted global energy supplies.
Fathali, speaking at a conclave organised by the India Today media group in New Delhi, did not confirm the number of vessels that have been provided safe passage.
About 20 percent of global oil and seaborne liquefied natural gas (LNG) is traded through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it will not permit any supplies for the US or its allies to leave the strait, but India had sought exemptions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he had spoken to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and discussed the transit of goods and energy from the Gulf.
Last week, the Indian government invoked emergency powers and directed refiners to maximise production of LPG to prevent a shortage of the cooking fuel. It cut sales to industry to avoid a shortage for its 333 million homes with LPG connections.
India has also urged LPG users to avoid panic buying of cylinders and shift to piped natural gas where possible.
India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Saturday that it has barred consumers with piped natural gas (PNG) connections from retaining, obtaining or refilling domestic LPG cylinders under an amended supply order.
The amendment also prohibits government oil companies from providing LPG connections or refills to consumers who already have PNG connections, the ministry said in a statement.
