Iran’s Oil Exporters Have Record Month Before Possible Sanctions
Iran’s crude exporters had a banner April, with shipments soaring to a record right before the possible re-imposition of US sanctions on their oil sales.
Crude exports by OPEC’s third-biggest producer totalled 2.61 million barrels a day, according to the Iranian Oil Ministry’s Shana news service. That beat the previous high of 2.44 million barrels a day in October 2016, it said.
President Trump will decide by the 12th May whether to keep America in an international agreement which restricts Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions and a restriction on oil sales.
Since sanctions were eased as of January 2016, Iran’s crude production has almost doubled. China and India together took 1.4 million barrels a day from Iran in April, according to Shana.
Some oil traders are already unwilling to sign contracts for Iranian crude and refined products which would be valid after the 12th May, according to recent interviews with six companies who buy and sell oil in the Middle East.
Iran’s crude and condensate exports in April were 2.87 million barrels a day, Shana reported. Observed shipments of both rose to 2.83 million barrels a day from 2.48 million barrels in March, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Crude volume alone rose from 2.06 million to 2.48 million barrels.
Source: Rigzone