TEHRAN- India imported 302,000 barrel per day (bpd) of oil from Iran in December 2018, an increase of 9.4 percent from November, ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed.

India is restricted to buying 1.25 million tons per month, some 300,000 bpd. December imports from Iran were 9.4 percent higher than November when some cargoes were delayed due to lack of ships, the tanker arrival data showed.

Iran was the sixth biggest oil supplier to India in December compared to third position it held a year ago and last month Tehran’s share of India’s overall imports declined to 6.2 percent from 11.7 percent a year ago, the data showed.

As reported by Sputnik on Friday, India's Ministry of External Affairs announced that the country will continue importing Iranian oil using the U.S. granted waiver.

"We have had several rounds of meeting with Iran and several other stakeholders. I can tell you that India continues to import oil from Iran. We have got a waiver in this regard and we will continue to be engaged with all the stakeholders as far as matters related to India's energy security are concerned," Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday afternoon during weekly media briefing.

Last week, India's top bank executive said that New Delhi had begun paying Iran in Indian rupees for its oil.

Also on January 8, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran would continue to be a reliable supplier of crude oil to India. The economic partners continued to engage in the trade of oil under previous sanctions.

MA/MA