OREANDA-NEWS. May 31, 2013. China's crude imports from Iran fell 4.3 percent in April from a year earlier to 1.53 million metric tons, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. Imports in March were 1.73 million tons. China, Iran's top crude oil customer, bought nearly 2.0 million tons of Iranian crude in February, equivalent to about 521,330 barrels per day (bpd), up 68 percent from 309,906 bpd in January, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

February crude imports from Iran rose 81 percent from 288,576 bpd a year earlier.

The IEA said in its March report that new U.S. sanctions on Iran implemented in February, which barred the country from repatriating oil export earnings, appeared not to have had an impact on February shipments.

U.S. and European Union sanctions aimed at choking the flow of oil money into Iran and forcing Tehran to negotiate curbing its disputed nuclear program have cut around a million barrels per day from Iran's crude exports.