LONDON (Reuters) — Iran has quietly moved significant amounts of crude oil to top client China in recent months, while India’s state refiners have added Iranian oil to their annual import plans on the assumption that U.S. sanctions on the OPEC supplier will soon ease, according to six industry sources and Refinitiv data.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has started reaching out to customers across Asia since Joe Biden took office to assess potential demand for its crude, said the sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Joe Biden has sought to revive talks with Iran on a nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald Trump in 2018, although harsh economic measures remain in place. The sanctions caused a precipitous drop in Iranian exports to China, India, Japan and South Korea since late 2018.

India, which is hurting from the recent sustained recovery in global crude prices LCOc1, expects Iranian supplies to return to the market in 3 to 4 months, a government official said. Restored Iranian supplies to India, the world’s third-largest crude importer, could reduce demand for spot cargoes, which has climbed recently after Iraq cut supplies and Kuwait reduced the duration of some contracts.

Another Indian refiner said they had been told by NIOC officials that a formal agreement on crude supply would be signed after Iran’s elections in June. NIOC has also reached out to other Asian customers.