Four Asian countries' crude oil imports from Iran hit 408.8 million barrels last year showing 19.8 percent rise in comparison with the previous year, media reports said.
Imports by Iran's four biggest buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - averaged 1.12 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2014 which was the highest in the past three years, Reuters reported.
In September, a prominent Iranian lawmaker voiced his satisfaction in the volume of Iran’s daily crude export, and said that the country’s oil export had exceeded 1.2mln barrels per day.
Speaking to FNA, member of the parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission Hossein Ali Haji Delijani pointed to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh’s recent report to the commission, and said, “According to Mr. Zanganeh’s report we should export 1.3 million barrels oil and gas condensates per day. At present, we have reached the (export) ceiling of 1.209mln barrels per day and earned an income of $23bln in the last six months, which is relatively good."
Earlier in 2014, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that Iran exported 66 percent more crude oil in May than in April, with China increasing its purchases from Iran.
Imports of Iranian crude reported by consumers rose to the "relatively high" level of 1.39 million barrels a day from 835,000 barrels a day in April, the IEA said in its monthly oil report in June.