LONDON: Iranian oil exports have risen to more than 1 million barrels per day for the first time in almost three years, based on estimates from companies that track the flows, reflecting increased shipments to China.
Tehran’s oil exports have been limited since former US President Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions aimed at curbing oil exports and the associated revenue to Iran’s government.
Iran has kept some exports flowing despite sanctions as intermediaries find ways to disguise the origin of the imports. However, tanker tracking companies say China is the destination of most of those shipments.
President Joe Biden’s administration has discussed the imports with China but has not imposed sanctions on Chinese individuals and companies. Beijing has urged the United States to lift the sanctions on Iran. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the nuclear deal resumed on Tuesday. If the talks are successful, Iran could restart open oil sales.
Iran managed to increase exports in 2021 despite the sanctions, according to estimates from oil industry consultants and analysts. Those exports remain well below the 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) shipped before the reimposition of sanctions.
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The increase in Iranian exports comes as tight global supply has helped to push oil prices to a seven-year high of $94 a barrel. A lifting of US sanctions would in theory allow Iran to start bringing crude exports back toward 2.5 million bpd, a rate last seen in 2018.
China’s foreign ministry, in response to a question on Iranian oil imports, said the “international community, including China, has been conducting normal cooperation with Iran under the global legal framework, which are both reasonable and legitimate. They deserve respect and safeguard.”
Last year, China brought in an average of 600,000 bpd of Iranian oil, mostly sold as crudes from other sources such as Oman, the UAE and Malaysia. That compared with the pre-Trump peak recorded by Chinese customs in 2017 at some 623,000 bpd.
China in January reported the first official imports of Iranian crude in a year. There is no definitive figure for Iranian exports and estimates often fall into a wide range. Iran generally does not release oil export figures.
