TOKYO: Imports of Iranian oil by four major buyers in Asia in August jumped 81 percent from a year earlier, the biggest percentage gain since April 2014, as the producer recoups market share from rivals Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Economic sanctions targeting Iran’s disputed nuclear programme were lifted in January, and it has been battling since then to regain market share lost during the previous four years that the sanctions were in force.
The No. 3 OPEC producer has increased its crude oil exports last month to more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a source with knowledge of its tanker loading schedule, closing in on Tehran’s pre-sanctions shipment levels of five years ago.
The top four Asian buyers, South Korea, Japan, China and India, imported 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, government and ship-tracking data showed. That would be the highest in at least five-and-a-half years. Japan’s trade ministry on Friday released official data showing its imports rose 31.4 percent from a year earlier to 235,612 bpd last month. India’s imports nearly tripled from a year earlier to 575,900 bpd, the highest in at least 15 years. Imports by South Korea more than doubled, while Chinese imports also jumped 48 percent.
