Pakistan to get crude from Iran on credit

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 1 (UPI) -- A Pakistani official said Iran offered to sell the energy-starved country crude oil under a three-month deferred payment option.

U.S. sanctions on Iran's financial entities cut off some crude oil deliveries to Pakistani. Asim Hussain, special Pakistani government assistance on energy issues, was quoted by the Platts news service as saying Tehran offered to sell crude oil on credit to get around the sanctions.

"Pakistan will soon finalize deals with Iran on the supply of crude oil on deferred payment," he said.

The news service notes Pakistan could get as much as 80,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran under the terms of the deal.

India last month announced that it booked additional crude oil cargoes from Iran despite sanctions pressure on the financial mechanisms needed to process payments for Iranian crude.

New Delhi will pay 45 percent of its debt using rupees through an Indian bank account opened by Iran. India had paid about $1 billion per month through Turkish channels for Iranian crude in a move meant to get around tightening sanctions.

The Pakistani official didn't say how Islamabad would settle its eventual financial obligations to Tehran.