<div>India imported 42 percent more Iranian oil last year over 2013 levels as its refiners increased purchases to take advantage of an easing in sanctions targeting Tehran's nuclear programme.</div><div> </div><div>The jump came with an end-of-the-year boost as imports in December surged 84 percent from a year ago to 348,400 barrels per day (bpd), the highest since March.</div><div> </div><div>Iranian and U.S. officials are meeting in Geneva this week ahead of talks between Tehran and world powers on Sunday focused on reaching a final deal to end the sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme.</div><div> </div><div>Diplomatic efforts to reach a final agreement last year failed for a second time in November, and a self-imposed deadline was extended to June 30 this year.</div><div> </div><div>Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes only and not aimed at building a weapon.</div><div> </div><div>India - Iran's top oil customer after China - imported 276,800 bpd of oil and condensate last year, compared with 195,600 bpd in 2013, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts.</div><div> </div><div>Indian refiners bought about 39 percent more Iranian oil in December compared with November, the data also showed.</div><div> </div><div>Annual imports of Iranian oil rose sharply last year as refiners ramped up purchases in the first quarter to make up for a big decline in shipments in 2013 as insurers had not extended coverage for processing oil from the sanctions-hit nation.</div><div> </div><div>Private-refiner Essar Oil was the biggest Indian client of Iran in 2014, followed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Indian Oil Corp.</div><div> </div><div>Iran remained the seventh-biggest oil supplier to India in 2014, while its share in overall purchases rose to 7.3 percent last year, compared with 5.1 percent in 2013, the data showed.</div><div> </div><div>The current sanctions allow Iran access to some of its frozen oil revenue overseas and restrict its oil sales at about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd.</div><div> </div><div>Overall, India imported 3.84 million bpd of oil in December, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier. Imports for the full year fell 1.4 percent to 3.81 million bpd.</div><div> </div><div>In the January-December period India imported about 3.9 percent more oil from Latin America, with the region accounting for about 20.1 percent of overall imports, up from about 19.1 percent a year ago.</div><div> </div><div>The Middle East region supplied about 59 percent of India's oil imports in January to December, compared with 62.3 percent a year ago.</div><div> </div><div>Africa's share jumped to 16.7 percent from 15.4 percent.</div><div> </div><div>In the fiscal year to March 31, 2014, India cut its imports from Iran by 15 percent to 220,000 bpd to get a waiver from U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic. India's annual oil contracts with Iran follow the country's April-March fiscal cycle.</div><div> </div><div>In the first nine months of the year to end March 31, 2015, Indian refiners have shipped in about 250,200 bpd of Iranian oil, up 41 percent from the same period a year ago.</div><div> </div><div>(Reuters)</div>
