South Korea bought 4.072 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in June, up about 12 percent from a month ago

South Korea bought 4.072 million barrels of crude oil from Iran in June, up about 12 percent from a month ago, according to state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC).
The latest official data showed South Korea had imported 3.641 million barrels of Iranian crude oil in May.

South Korea’s Iran oil imports, however, fell nearly 23.1 percent from a year ago, while its total crude oil imports declined 1.6 percent year on year to 77.3 million barrels last month.

On June 5, the U.S. State Department renewed six-month waivers on Iran sanctions for China, India and seven other economies in exchange for their agreeing to reduce purchases of oil from Iran.

Refiners want to continue using the Iranian crude many of their plants are configured to process, as changes will need lengthy testing of new grades or cause an alteration in output.

Waivers on U.S. sanctions have been granted twice to China, India, South Korea and other Asian buyers. Japan, another top buyer, won its third exemption during an earlier review period.

Iran’s oil exports will average 1.38 million barrels a day in the current Iranian fiscal year starting March 21, 2013, the International Energy Agency estimates. That’s in line with the government’s budget expecting 1.3 million barrels a day.

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said Iran has significantly developed its capacity to ship oil overseas despite U.S.-led sanctions.