UN sanctions do not prohibit oil buy from Iran: RBI Guv

Mumbai, Feb 23 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said UN sanctions do not prohibit India from purchasing crude oil from Iran, which is facing tough US and European sanctions over its nuclear programme. "India is conforming to the UN sanctions as far as dealings with Iran are concerned and UN sanctions do not prohibit purchases of oil from Iran," RBI Governor D Subbarao told The Wall Street Journal Online edition. On payments for crude oil purchases from the Persian Gulf nation, the Indian central bank chief said, "As much as we purchase oil from Iran, we've got to find a way to pay for it and our effort has been to continue to make our payments." Iran had last month agreed to receive 45 per cent of the payments, for about 370,000 barrels per day of oil it sells to India, in rupees, via an account opened in the Kolkata-based UCO Bank. It was chosen because it has no US or European exposure and thus would not be impacted by sanctions. Iran is India's second largest oil supplier accounting for 12 per cent of its needs. PTI