TOKYO: Iran’s crude oil exports fell for the first time in five months in March, and are slated to drop further in April, moving closer to the levels stipulated by November’s temporary nuclear deal that eased some sanctions on Tehran.

Under the agreement reached in Geneva, Iran’s oil exports were to remain at an average 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the six months to July 20, but since the signing last year, shipments to Asia alone had topped that mark until this month.

The drop in crude exports to just over 1 million bpd in March and to 953,000 bpd for April, according to ship loading data seen by Reuters, reduces pressure on Tehran ahead of talks next month to finalise an end to the decade-old nuclear dispute.

The drops have come mainly because Japan did not take any cargoes in March and South Korea is not scheduled to take any shipments in April, according to the tanker data.

“When the Iranian exports increased, the market noticed so I’m not surprised that they might try to cut back some in the upcoming period,” IHS oil consultant Victor Shum said. “As far as China is concerned, the offtake is a bit higher, but it goes up and down, so on average, for the year, China will keep it under the target,” he said.

Iran’s biggest customer China will increase loadings this month to 552,000 bpd, about a third higher than a year ago, after a decline in March to 458,000 bpd.

Chinese buyers will account for almost 60 per cent of oil shipped by tanker from Iran in April.

Crude going to India, Tehran’s No.2 customer, surged nearly 43pc in the first quarter of 2014, bringing a warning from the United States that it needed to hold the shipments closer to end-2013 levels of 195,000 bpd.

India is scheduled to load in April about 145,000 bpd of Iranian crude, down from imports of 412,000 bpd in January.

It’s not immediately clear if the reductions in Japan, India and South Korea are a response to pressure to hold to the terms of the temporary nuclear agreement, or if they are related to a seasonal drop in imports because of refinery maintenance.

Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency had pegged Iran’s crude shipments in February at 1.65m bpd - including condensate – the highest since June 2012.

Iran’s deputy oil minister for international trade said on Monday that the Islamic republic’s oil exports had held at around 1 million bpd for the last six months.