The latest shipping data show that Iran’s exports of crude oil in August increased 15 percent from July and exceeded 2 million barrels per day (mb/d) – the highest level in almost five years.
Reuters quoted an unnamed source with knowledge of Iran’s tanker loading schedule that the country’s oil exports in August had reached as high as 2.11 mb/d. The figure, the source added, is almost double the volume for the country’s exports over the same period last year.
Iran’s crude exports in August climbed from 1.9 million bpd in June and 1.83 million bpd in July, Reuters added.
The Agency further emphasized that Iran’s oil exports currently stands at the highest level since 2012 and is close to the volumes of pre-sanctions years.
Iran’s exports of oil stood at 2.35 m/bpd before the sanctions were imposed against the country in 2011. The sanctions restricted the country’s oil exports to around 1 m/bpd among other economic bans – already described by analysts as the toughest the world has ever seen. They were lifted in January after a deal that Iran reached with the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany – over the Iranian nuclear energy program became effective.
Reuters data also show that loadings headed for India reached a likely record of nearly 600,000 bpd last month. The figure, it emphasized, was the highest in almost 15 years. This has also put India ahead of China in imports of crude oil from Iran.
Iranian oil was also loaded for Turkey, Greece, and Spain, and exports to Italy more than doubled from the previous month to 87,000 bpd, Reuters further reported.