Latest News

Sources say that Iran's oil is now being exported to new countries.

According to data and shipping sources, Iran has sent small amounts of crude oil to destinations like Bangladesh and Oman. This is the latest indication that Tehran wants to maintain its output near to its highest level in five years.

Iran's main revenue source is oil sales. The country has been trying to find ways to avoid U.S. sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 on Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran is not subject to the output quotas of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is aiming at maximising production and exports.

According to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency, Oil Minister Javad Owji stated in July that Iran sold crude oil to 17 different countries, including Europe. Details could not be corroborated.

Claire Jungman from the United Against Nuclear Iran advocacy group said that the Golden Eagle tanker sailed to the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh, earlier this year, after receiving oil from a vessel that had loaded it on Iran's Kharg Island, according to the available evidence based upon shipping data.

In April, the Golden Eagle transferred parts of its cargo to smaller vessels in ship-to -ship transfers around Chittagong, according to Jungman. His organisation monitors Iran-related tanker activity via satellite data.

Another oil export tracking source confirmed the shipment to Bangladesh.

Unofficially, an official of the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), which operates the main refinery in the country, stated that it had not purchased the cargo. It was also difficult to determine who the buyer was.

It was not possible to reach the Liberian owner and manager of Golden Eagle listed in shipping databases for a comment.

The Iranian officials didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.

SYRIA OMAN

According to OPEC, Tehran's oil production has topped 3.2 millions barrels per day, the highest level since 2018. This is after Tehran posted one of OPEC’s largest output increases in 2023 despite U.S. restrictions still in place.

According to Petro-Logistics a Geneva-based company that tracks tanker shipments, Iranian crude exports reached new heights in 2018. The period between March and May was the strongest since mid-2018.

Virginie Baniak, of Petro-Logistics, said: "But volumes appear to be plateauing."

Shipping sources reported that at least eight cargoes - mainly from Iran – were headed to Syria, with some already discharged. Shipping to Syria is down from its peak a few years ago, as Iran looks for other export destinations.

According to UANI's Jungman, Iranian oil exports into Syria averaged 57190 bpd by 2024, compared to a peak of 147,000 in 2022.

UANI's Jungman, citing shipping information, said that a separate tanker transported a shipment believed to be Iranian crude into the Omani Port of Sohar in the month of June. The consignment was loaded via a shipto-ship transfer, with another vessel which had picked up the shipment earlier this year from Iran's Kharg Island.

This cargo was also confirmed by the ship tracking source as having arrived in Sohar.

Sohar Port, Oman's Maritime Security Centre and the Sohar Port did not respond immediately to requests for comments.

Iran has begun to ship crude oil into China's Dalian port in the northeast. This is another new destination.

The port has been flooded with Iranian exports to China which do not recognize U.S. sanctions. This is helping the country maintain its oil imports near record levels.

Dealers and tanker trackers say traders are rebranding Iranian oil bound for China to look like it is from Malaysia, Oman, or the United Arab Emirates.

Homayoun Falikshahi is a senior analyst at Kpler. He said that Iranian oil exports are now at their peak, and they have stabilized around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) since February. (Reporting from Jonathan Saul and Alex Lawler, with additional reporting from Ruma Paul in Dhaka; Yousef Sabah and Parisa Hafezi, in Dubai. Editing by Tomaszjanowski.)

(source: Reuters)