Iran’s Oil Exports to Asia Rise by 70% in January: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Imports of Iranian crude by Asia's four main buyers of the oil rose about two-thirds in January from a year ago, a report said.
Iran's top four Asian buyers - China, India, South Korea and Japan - imported 1.64 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up 67.6 percent on a year earlier, government and ship-tracking data showed, Reuters reported.
But that volume was the lowest in six months and marked a third straight month of decline from last year's peak of 1.99 million bpd hit in October, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
Japan's trade ministry on Tuesday released official data showing its imports rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier to 209,319 bpd last month.
India's imports more than tripled to 554,600 bpd, topping China's for the first time since November. South Korean imports more than doubled to 478,032 bpd, also beating China, to become the second-biggest buyer in Asia.
Iran had been a major exporter of crude to the four Asian buyers, but anti-Tehran sanctions had reduced bilateral trade between Tehran and the four nations.
This changed after Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a nuclear deal in July 2015 and started implementing it in January last year.
The comprehensive nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.
