India’s Jan-Aug Iran Oil Imports Climb by Nearly 50 Percent

18 September 2014 | 22:44 Code : 1938511 Latest Headlines

TEHRAN (FNA)- India's crude imports from Iran rose by a third in the first eight months of 2014, data from trade sources showed, after the shipments were boosted following the Geneva interim deal.

Indian refiners shipped in 271,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran between January and August, up from 185,700 bpd in the same period a year ago, data on tanker arrivals from trade sources shows.

According to the data, India’s shipments from Iran in August were about 271,000 bpd showing a considerable rise as compared with 2013.

China also boosted its imports after the temporary deal between Tehran and Western powers was signed in November last year, with imports from Iran rising by 50 percent in the first six months of this year.

Iran and six world powers agreed to a four-month extension of the temporary deal after missing a July 20 deadline to reach a final agreement.

Asian buyers are expected to import about 1.25 million to 1.3 million bpd of Iranian oil in the first half of the year, industry and government sources have said.

State-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd was the biggest India client of Iranian oil in June followed by Essar Oil Ltd, the data showed. MRPL and Essar are India's only two regular monthly importers of Iranian crude.

Iran's share of total Indian oil imports rose to 7.3 percent in the first half of this year compared with 5.4 percent last year, the tanker arrival data also showed.