NEW DELHI: India’s daily oil imports from Iran in August surged to their highest in at least 15 years as the OPEC producer boosted its shipments to recoup market share ceded to rivals Saudi Arabia and Iraq under pressure from economic sanctions.
India received about 576,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil in August, up about 10 percent from July, according to trade sources and ship arrival data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain & Commodities Research.
The August oil imports from Iran are likely a record although reliable data is available only back to 2001.
Iran used to be India’s second-biggest oil supplier – a position now held by Iraq – before sanctions aimed at Tehran’s nuclear programme began undercutting its petroleum trade.
India’s oil imports from Iran last month were nearly triple the 199,000 bpd taken in August a year ago, according to the tanker arrival data.
