Iran's biggest oil customers - all in Asia - have been seeking sanctions waivers to allow them to still buy some of its oil.
The U.S. government has agreed to let eight countries, including close allies South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on Tehran from next week, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a U.S. official.
Iran's biggest oil customers - all in Asia - have been seeking sanctions waivers to allow them to still buy some of its oil.
Bloomberg reported that close U.S. allies South Korea and Japan had received waivers along with India, which relies heavily on supplies from Iran, adding that a list of all countries getting waivers was expected to be released officially on Monday.
A Chinese official told Reuters that discussions with the U.S. government were ongoing and that a result was expected over the next couple of days.
"We think Trump will agree to China importing some volumes, similar to the treatment that India and South Korea receive," Clayton Allen of Height Securities said in a note on Friday.
However, analysts said any potential Iranian oil sanction waivers would likely only be temporary.
"The U.S. may use waivers to slow-walk implementation, but these will not apply indefinitely," Allen said.
Goldman Sachs said it expects Iran's crude oil exports to fall to 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year, down from around 2.5 million bpd in mid-2018.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed trade issues between the two countries, a top White House official said Thursday.
"We (India and US) are in talks. We are in talks absolutely. India is a highly-valued ally. The president has spoken to the prime minister and so forth. We're in talks, White House Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters.
Kudlow, however, did not specify when the two leaders spoke on trade issues.
For the last several months, the White House has stopped issuing readouts of most of the telephonic conversation that Trump has with world leaders.
The president himself tweets about some of these telephonic conversations.
The chief economic advisor did not provide any details of the trade talks between India and the US.
I can't go there. I can't go. We're talking. Talk is good by the way, Kudlow said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday in New Delhi said India and the US have exchanged offers for a possible trade deal with a view to resolving issues related to bilateral commerce.
"The negotiations are ongoing. Of course, at this stage they have given an offer and we have also given a counter-offer and we are working on it," he had at an event in New Delhi.
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 "US grants India, Japan and 6 others waivers to buy oil from Iran post sanctions: Report")
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