Iran Stores '30 Million Barrels of Oil' in the Persian Gulf

While Western sanctions remain a barrier to increasing Iran's oil exports, Tehran has stored at least 30 million barrels of crude oil on its tankers in the Persian Gulf. Reuters reported on Wednesday, April 5, citing oil transportation market sources, that sanctions have reduced Iran's oil exports to just over one million barrels per day since 2012, which is half of what Iran exported before the sanctions. Iran and six world powers are currently negotiating to reach a political agreement by the end of this month (April 11) and a comprehensive nuclear agreement by the end of June, which, if reached, would lead the West to reconsider its sanctions against Iran. The report adds that an increase in Iran's oil exports could exert more pressure on prices in the weakened oil markets. The OPEC oil price, which reached $108 in the first half of last year, has fallen below $51 per barrel as of April 4, according to the official OPEC website. One of the main reasons for this is the surplus oil in the market due to global oil production outpacing consumption. Reuters writes that most of the stored oil at sea belongs to the National Iranian Tanker Company. A shipping loading source told Reuters that 15 supertankers, each with a capacity to store two million barrels of oil, have been allocated for storing oil at sea. The shipping company 'A.E. Gibson' also estimates that 15 supertankers of the National Iranian Tanker Company are currently being used as floating oil storage, a figure that has not changed since February. According to this company, in September last year, the number of giant tankers of the National Iranian Tanker Company allocated for oil storage reached its highest number, 18 vessels, and this year it has decreased to less than 14 tankers. The company adds that while sanctions and falling oil prices have had a heavy impact on Iran, the Islamic Republic is very eager to increase its oil exports as soon as possible. According to Gibson's assessment, the lifting of oil sanctions against Iran will likely occur in several stages, which poses a barrier to the rapid increase of Iran's oil exports. Furthermore, insurance and banking restrictions against Iran remain in place. Last month, the European Union reinstated the National Iranian Tanker Company on its sanctions list, complicating the company's ability to obtain insurance and engage in global transactions as before. The National Iranian Tanker Company, with tankers totaling a capacity of 76 million barrels of oil, is Iran's largest tanker fleet, which is also on the U.S. sanctions list, in addition to the European Union. The oil research section of Thomson Reuters has assessed that at least 20 million barrels of oil are stored on Iranian ships of the National Iranian Tanker Company.