Indian oil firms to buy 9M barrels of Iranian crude

AVA- According to ISNA, India’s state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation will both purchase one million barrels of Iranian oil next month following a months-long hiatus.
Citing industry sources, the news agency said that India’s total crude oil purchases from Iran were expected to amount to some nine million barrels.
After the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran last year, the two Indian firms temporarily stopped buying Iranian oil.
Last November, however, Washington granted India a six-month exemption from sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
The Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner, plans to buy another five million barrels of Iranian crude in February, while India’s Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd. plans to buy two million barrels, according to the news agency.
India is considered the second largest importer of Iranian oil after China, purchasing 17.62 million tons from April to October of last year.
Last August, the U.S. re-imposed a first round of sanctions that mainly targeted Iran’s banking sector.
A second round -- targeting the Iranian energy sector -- came into effect in early November, although Washington has granted a 180-day reprieve to the eight largest buyers of Iranian oil, including Turkey.