India stares at Iranian oil supply hit as state bank pulls out: refiner

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's oil imports from Iran will be affected from end-August as the State Bank of India has informed India's refiners it will not handle oil deal payments from November, the finance head of Indian Oil Corp said on Friday.

The Indian state-controlled bank's decision comes after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran on May 8 and said he would reimpose sanctions within 180 days.

"(Oil) loading will be affected from end-August under the current mechanism unless a new payment route is established," A.K. Sharma told Reuters.

Some sanctions take effect after a 90-day "wind-down" period ending on Aug. 6, and the rest, notably on the petroleum sector, after a 180-day "wind-down period" ending on Nov. 4.

Iran offers Indian refiners a 60-day credit period on oil sales, which means payment for cargoes loaded from end-August will be due in November.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Krishna N. Das)