New Delhi, May 18: The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Monday that it has reached a $275 million settlement with Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) regarding potential violations of sanctions related to LPG purchases from Iran.
According to OFAC’s statement, AEL agreed to pay this amount to resolve potential civil liabilities for alleged breaches of sanctions linked to Iran.
The statement detailed that between November 2023 and June 2025, AEL purchased LPG shipments from a Dubai-based trader, who claimed the gas was sourced from Oman and Iraq. However, there were multiple indicators that should have alerted AEL to the fact that the LPG was actually coming from Iran. During this period, AEL made 32 payments totaling approximately $192,104,044 through U.S. financial institutions.
AEL entered the LPG market in June 2023, initiating imports to sell to customers in India.
In July 2023, representatives from AEL, including the head of the company’s new LPG unit, met with representatives from a Dubai trading company that was allegedly supplying LPG from Oman to another Indian firm.
In September 2023, the Dubai supplier informed AEL that it could provide LPG through its affiliated company. An internal document from AEL referred to this supplier as one that could supply “discounted LPG from the Middle East.”
The statement noted that the Dubai supplier was operating through several affiliated companies. At that time, AEL was reliant on Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited’s (APSEZ) compliance program with OFAC’s 2020 sanctions, which prohibited Iranian or sanctioned vessels and cargo from entering APSEZ-controlled ports.
AEL had also implemented its standard “Know Your Customer (KYC)” verification process for the Dubai supplier and its associated companies, ensuring that no names appeared on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and blocked persons lists.
Reports indicate that although the supplier presented itself as a reputable intermediary sourcing LPG from Oman and Iraq, it was actually facilitating the entry of Iranian supplies into the international market.
According to OFAC, there were numerous signs from the outset that raised questions about the true source of the goods. The statement further mentioned that between March 2023 and February 2024, AEL received concerns from third parties on at least four occasions, suggesting that the shipments sent by the Dubai supplier might have originated from Iran.
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