India's oil imports from Iran plunge over gas field row

India's oil imports from Iran have fallen to their lowest since June 2016, shipping data shows, in possible retaliation for Tehran not awarding a gas field development to Indian companies.

India, Iran's top oil client after China, shipped in 487,600 barrels per day (bpd) in May, about 9 percent less compared with April and nearly 40 percent less than a peak registered in October, according to ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts.

Most Western-led sanctions against Tehran's nuclear programme were lifted in January last year, and India's Iranian crude imports began climbing two months later in March.

In the fiscal year to March 2018, though, India has said it plans to order about a quarter less Iranian crude due to a snub over development of Iran's Farzad B gas field.