India's MPRL sells first cargo of diesel to Iran

New Dehli: India's state-run Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals (MRPL) will ship a cargo of diesel to Iran for the first time this month, filling the void left by privately owned rival Reliance, souces confirmed on Friday.

MRPL is also hoping to secure a long-term deal to sell more diesel to Iran, strengthening ties between OPEC's second-biggest member and Asia's third-largest economy.

Iran was forced to buy diesel cargoes from as far afield as Singapore this winter after Reliance Industries stopped selling it fuel last year when its bankers refused to confirm letter of credit raised by Iran's central bank.

Increasing Western pressure over Tehran's nuclear programme has made it more difficult for the Islamic Republic to do business abroad, although the governments of fast-growing China and India have proven more than happy to do deals.

A source said MRPL would be able to sidestep the payment problems that Reliance faced by settling its deals through the government-run State Bank of India.

Reliance, which operates a 660,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery on India's west coast, had used foreign banks such as BNP Paribas and Calyon to guarantee counterparty credit on its deals.