Asia's July Iran oil imports rise 61 percent from a year ago

By Osamu Tsukimori

TOKYO (Reuters) - Imports of Iranian oil by four major buyers in Asia in July jumped 61.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the biggest percentage gain since April 2014, reflecting Tehran's aggressive moves to recoup market share, lost under international sanctions.

Iran is regaining market share at a faster pace than analysts had projected since sanctions were lifted in January, and Iran's senior government official said it sees its oil production at 4 million barrels per day by year-end. [nL9N15G01F]

The four countries, South Korea, Japan, China and India, imported 1.64 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, government and ship-tracking data showed.

 

Japan's trade ministry on Wednesday released official data showing its imports jumped 61.8 percent from a year earlier to 256,651 bpd last month.

Imports by South Korea jumped more than fourfold last month, while India's imports more than doubled from a year ago.

The following tables show Asia's Iran crude imports in bpd for last month and the year to date.

Nation Jul-16 Jul-15 yr/yr pct

China 566,191 575,700 -1.7

India 523,100 215,400 142.8

Japan 256,651 158,608 61.8

Korea 291,097 66,710 336.4

Total 1,637,039 1,016,418 61.1

Nation Jan-July 2016 Jan-July 2015 yr/yr pct

China 595,598 587,400 1.4

India 368,300 215,300 71.0

Japan 213,261 170,727 24.9

Korea 268,667 111,665 140.6

Total 1,445,826 1,085,092 33.2

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)