Indian refiners plan to resume buying Iranian oil while refiners elsewhere in Asia are examining such a move after Washington temporarily removed sanctions ‌to alleviate an energy crunch caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, traders told Reuters on Saturday.

Three Indian refining sources said they will buy Iranian oil and are awaiting government directions and clarity from Washington on details such as payment terms.

Refiners in India, which has much smaller crude stockpiles than other big Asian oil importers, rushed to book Russian oil after the US recently lifted sanctions temporarily.

At its peak, Iranian crude accounted for 11.5 per cent of India’s total imports, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. But imports ceased in 2019 after US sanctions.

Other Asian refiners are making checks to see if they can purchase the oil, several people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said.

The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including sanctioned tankers, on or before March 20 and discharged by April 19, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. It is the third time the US has temporarily waived sanctions on oil since the start of the war.