In any war-like situation with Pakistan, both Saudi and UAE will be induced to pressurise Islamabad because of their high stakes in India's oil sector
Among the buyers, India, South Korea, China, and Japan are likely to be hit the hardest
Washington had given a six-month waiver to eight nations including India, allowing them to import some Iranian oil until early May
International benchmark Brent futures were at $70.72 per barrel at 0225 GMT on Monday, up 38 cents, or 0.5 percent from their last close.
For the two benchmarks, the first quarter was the best-performing quarter since 2009, when both gained close to 40 per cent
The country's dependence on imports has increased over the past four years and domestic production has fallen
ONGC and OIL, who are battling stagnation in output from largely ageing fields, have a total of 184 fields
Venezuelan crude exports have plunged since US President Donald Trump ratcheted up sanctions against the country's oil company
Crude has gained 20% this year amid prospects of cut in supply
The US has slapped sweeping sanctions on PDVSA with a view to curb Venezuela's crude exports and put pressure on socialist President Maduro to step down
Among oil importers in the Middle East region, growth had picked up, but it was still below the level before the global financial crisis
U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels last week and gasoline stocks also increased
Oil prices got a boost from Wall Street after surprisingly strong US job growth data fed demand for equities
More than half of the world's heavy crude is processed in the US
Oil futures have gained about 9 per cent since last Monday
India had in July 2017 allowed companies to carve out blocks of their choice with a view to bringing about 2.8 million sq km of unexplored area in the country under exploration
Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Opec Countries, and several others curbed supplies in the face of rising US production and inventories
Crude prices have been closely tracking equity markets during volatile trading for both asset classes last week
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 72 cents to settle at $45.33 a barrel, after earlier reaching $46.22 a barrel
Brent fell 11% last week and hit its lowest level since September 2017