The extra cargoes indicate a willingness by Saudi Arabia to increase crude supply to make up the shortfall once sanctions by the United States on oil exports from Iran.

On October 8, Indian petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan came on record to say that India will continue with its purchases.

Top industry sources said Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) have contracted 1.25 million tonnes of Iranian oil for import in November, the month when the US sanctions against Iran's oil sector kick-in.

According to analysts the development was a huge negative surprise also because it is likely to be construed as reversal of the autofuel price deregulation policy by investors, and return to the erstwhile subsidy sharing mechanism.

The Indian oil refiners buy Iranian crude at $3-5 a barrel discount to the other crude grades in the Middle East. The benefits include the $2-4 discount for a barrel of crude; $1 a barrel freight subsidies; and the extended payment facilities.

India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude after China, accounting for about 30 percent of total crude exports from the Persian Gulf nation during April-August 2018.

New jobs rise to 11-month high of 9.51 lakh in JulyNew job creations in July rose to an 11-month high of 9.51 lakh, taking the total tally of new enrolments to 61.81 lakh since September 2017, according to the EPFO's payroll data. Job addition numbers, which are based on new members enrolled in various social security schemes of EPFO such as pension, PF and insurance, were 9,51,423 in July -- the highest in any month since September 2017 when the retirement fund body started rel...

Oil refiners such as state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) could use UCO Bank or IDBI Bank to route oil payments to Iran.

India's loadings from Iran for this month and next will drop to less than 12 million barrels each, after purchases over April-August had been boosted in anticipation of the reductions.

Petroleum and natural gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in an email interview with Anilesh S. Mahajan, explains Indias energy diplomacy, strategy for renewable energy, new policies for attracting capital and attempt to unshackle the public sector oil giants.