India is yet to receive any official communication from Iran about stopping crude oil supplies to the South Asian country, a senior finance ministry official said Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Officially, there is nothing from Iran that they are stopping oil supplies," said the official, who declined to named.
Iran has been supplying crude to Indian refiners without being able to access payments after India's central bank in December closed a trade mechanism between the two nations, apparently under U.S. pressure.
Iran had earlier cautioned Indian refiners that supplies of crude could stop from August if the two countries fail to find a way to transfer the estimated $5 billion in pending oil payments due to Tehran.
The Fars news agency Monday reported, citing an Iranian oil ministry official, that oil exports to India may be stopped from Aug. 1 if the issue isn't resolved.
Iran is India's second-largest crude supplier, after Saudi Arabia. Indian refiners source about 424,00 barrels a day of crude oil from Iran, or about 14% of its total crude imports.