The biggest oil importers in Asia collectively bought 1.57 million bpd of oil from Iran in March, a 36-percent surge over February, as buyers rushed to use up the U.S. sanction waivers for Iranian oil purchases before they expire this week, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing government data and trade sources. Asia’s top oil importers, who are also Iran’s biggest oil customers—China, India, Japan, and South Korea—saw their combined level of Iranian oil imports in March hit the highest amount in eight months, since July last year, the month before the U.S. slapped financial sanctions on Iran, followed by sanctions on Tehran’s oil industry in November. Back in November, the U.S. granted sanction waivers to eight key Iranian oil buyers, including these four Asian customers, to continue importing oil at reduced volumes. Amid uncertainties whether they would get their waivers extended, the Asian importers hurried to buy and load […]