TEHRAN- South Korea imported 12.46 million tons or 2.94 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in January, data from the country’s customs office showed.

The data indicated that the Asian country has shipped in 227,941 tons of Iranian crude in January, or 53,676 barrels per day (bpd).

South Korea, one of Iran’s biggest Asian customers resumed imports of Iranian oil in January after a four-month hiatus.

The world’s fifth-largest crude importer won a six-month waiver in November from U.S. sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports, but did not immediately start imports, mainly due to payment and insurance issues.

The new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector were put in action on November 4, 2018.

However, soon after the sanctions took effect the U.S. government agreed to let eight countries, including close allies South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil and it is expected that Iran’s oil exports will rise in February and March.

MA/MA