India Imports 500,000 bpd of Iran’s Crude in March

India’s crude imports from Iran topped 500,000 barrels per day in March, a report said on Monday.

Indian refiners together imported 506,100 bpd oil from Iran last month, a jump of about 135 percent from February, preliminary tanker data showed, Reuters reported.

Essar Oil was the biggest importer of Iranian oil in March with about 207,400 bpd oil, followed by about 130,000 bpd by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS) and about 90,600 bpd by Reliance, its first shipments in about six years.

Experts believe that the increase of India’s crude imports from Iran indicates that the Islamic Republic is reclaiming its previous market share in the global oil market following a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said the country’s crude oil exports have exceeded two million barrels per day.

Iran’s oil and gas condensate exports are now at more than 2 million barrels per day, Zangeneh said on Sunday.

All nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a nuclear deal on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16.