NEW DELHI—India's top two importers of crude oil from Iran will reduce shipments from the Persian Gulf nation by at least 15% this financial year, while an independent report said Iran's oil output had reached its lowest level in 20 years, two further signs that Washington's efforts to shut down Iran's oil trade are taking effect.
India's government has asked state-owned Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. and Essar Oil Ltd., a private company, to cut their imports in the year through March 2013 due to demands from the U.S., said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The move comes ahead of a visit to Kolkata and New Delhi early next week by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during which India's purchases of Iranian oil are likely to be discussed.
"Definitely, there is a lot of pressure from the U.S.," one of the people said. A spokesman for India's oil ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Obama administration made a renewed push late last year to strangle Iran's oil trade in a bid to get Tehran to give up its nuclear program. Tehran says the program is for peaceful purposes.
According to Vienna-based JBC Energy GmbH, Iran's crude output fell to 3.2 million barrels a day in April, down 150,000 barrels a day in two months. That level hadn't been hit since the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war in 1990.
The European Union at the start of the year agreed to ban all oil imports from Iran from July 1. Other Asian importers such as China, Japan and South Korea also have trimmed their imports in the first quarter of 2012.
Under U.S. Pressure, India to Cut Iran Imports - WSJ.com