MADRID, April 9 (Reuters) – Spain’s crude imports from Iran dropped in January, while its supplies from Nigeria and Iraq rose sharply, just as the European Union imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, official data showed on Monday.

In its latest monthly bulletin, strategic hydrocarbons reserve board CORES estimated Spain had imported 279,000 tonnes of crude oil from Iran, a drop of 31 percent from December. As a proportion of total imports, Iranian crude fell to 6 percent in January from 9.5 percent in December, which compares with around 14 percent in previous months.

Spain, which needs to import virtually all of its crude, ramped up importsin January from Nigeria, Iraq and Libya, where production has been returning tonormal after last year’s civil war.The European Union imposed sanctions on Iran on Jan. 23 over the Islamicrepublic’s nuclear programme, although importers have until July 1 to executepreviously signed contracts.

Trade sources say they expect Spain’s crude imports from Iran to havedropped further in February.Spain’s biggest refiner, Repsol, has repeatedly declined to commenton details of its oil purchases, but in February the government said thecountry’s two biggest oil companies had arranged to switch imports from Iran toSaudi Arabia, Russia and, to a lesser extent, Iraq.Cepsa, Spain’s No. 2 refiner, has said it plans to source crude from theUnited Arab Emirates.

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