Iran's Oil Exports to India Hit Record High in 2016

FARS news reported that India purchased about 473,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran to feed expanding refining capacity, the official figures by the two countries' customs offices showed.

India's oil imports from Iran were twice higher than that of 2015 which stood at 208,300 bpd.

The sharp increase in India’s imports of oil from Iran propelled the country into the fourth place among New Delhi’s suppliers in 2016, up from seventh position in 2015.

Iran used to be India's second-biggest supplier before sanctions, but later plunged to the seventh place as refineries slowed purchases of Iranian oil due to sanctions.

The US-led sanctions against Iran restricted the country’s oil exports to around 1 million barrels per day (mb/d) among other restrictions already described as the toughest in modern history.

The sanctions were lifted last January after a nuclear deal that Iran had sealed with the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) came into effect.

Based on the deal, Iran restricted certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities in return for the removal of certain economic sanctions, including those that banned the exports of crude oil.