TEHRAN: Iran has increased oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day since international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in January, a top official said yesterday. “As we had promised, we managed to increase our exports by 500,000 bpd shortly after the lifting of sanctions,” Mohsen Ghamsari, Director of International Affairs of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was quoted by the FARS news agency as saying yesterday.

Greece’s biggest oil refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, will buy 60,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Iran which can increase to 150,000 bpd, Iran’s deputy oil minister said yesterday. The deal was made during the recent visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Tehran, Amir- Hossein Zamaninia was quoted as saying by oil ministry’s news agency, Shana. Hellenic Petroleum was a major buyer of Iranian crude, which accounted for about 20 percent of the southeast European country’s annual crude oil imports, before sanctions were imposed on Tehran in 2011. —Agencies