India's Essar Oil, the top Indian buyer of Iranian crude, imported 49.7% more Iranian oil in May compared with a year ago, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and ship-tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal. Essar shipped in about 187,300 barrels per day of oil from Iran last month, an increase of about 4.6% from April, the data showed, Reuters reported. Essar's oil imports from Iran averaged at about 149,500 bpd in the first five months of 2016 compared with 76,000 bpd of a year ago, when the private refiner had to cut imports under pressure from western sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, the data showed. Iran's share in overall imports by Essar Oil in the January-May period rose to 41% from about 23% in the year-ago period. India, the world's fastest-growing economy, has consistently ramped up its intake of crude oil in recent months to meet its industrial demand. Iran is currently the third largest crude supplier to India, a massive leap compared to January when it was ranked India's sixth largest exporter.
