TEHRAN- India imported 270,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran in January, ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed.

The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil sector in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight countries, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.

India is restricted to buying 300,000 bpd of oil from Iran, but January’s import was below this figure as some cargoes were delayed.

India’s January imports from Iran were 10.4 percent lower than December, the tanker arrival data showed.

In the first 10 months of this fiscal year that began in April, India’s oil imports from Iran rose by 14.5 percent to 507,000 bpd as refiners boosted purchases ahead of the U.S. sanctions drawn by discounts offered by Tehran, the data showed.

Indian refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petrolum Corp, Mangalore Refinery and Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp would lift same volume in March as they took in February, a government official said.

MA/MA