The shipments also include some parcels that were loaded in June and arrived in India last month, data obtained from trade sources showed.
State refiners accounted for about four-fifths of the imports; Indian Oil Corp along with its unit Chennai Petroleum Corp imported approximately 300 000 bpd oil, the preliminary data showed.
The surge in imports has been attributed to perks offered by Iran before US sanctions on the petroleum sector are enforced from 4 November, following the US’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran had promised almost free shipping and an extended credit period for oil sales to India.
Between April and July India’s oil imports from Iran has risen by an annual 40% to about 677 500 bpd, the data showed.
However purchases from Iran could slow from now on; last month, state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) was forced to cancel an Iranian oil shipment as insurers were not willing to provide cover for its two refineries for processing Iranian oil, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
HPCL will not buy Iranian oil in August, its Chairman, M. K. Surana, announced earlier this week and did not comment if the company would resume buying Iranian oil from next month.
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