Iran's Oil Exports Reach 'Highest Level Since Sanctions'

According to the monthly report of the International Energy Agency published on Thursday, June 21, Iran's oil exports reached 1.4 million barrels per day last month, marking a record since the implementation of Western sanctions against Iran in mid-2012. Before the sanctions, Iran exported up to 2.5 million barrels daily, but this figure dropped to about 1 million barrels in 2013. After the interim nuclear agreement in the fall of that year, Iran increased its oil exports somewhat, and in recent months, exports have risen again due to increased hopes for a comprehensive nuclear agreement and the drafting of its final document. According to a report by Bloomberg, the International Energy Agency, which advises 27 industrialized countries on energy, states in its monthly report that Iran's oil exports in May increased by 235,000 barrels per day compared to the previous month. The report indicates that Iran had a total crude oil production of 2.85 million barrels last month. The agency notes that Iran is preparing for the day when international sanctions are lifted and theoretically, the country could increase its oil production to between 3.4 million and 3.6 million barrels per day a few months after the sanctions are lifted. Before the sanctions, Iran was the second-largest oil producer in OPEC, but it has now fallen to the fifth position. Currently, Tehran and six world powers are working to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement, with a deadline set for July 1. Roknoddin Javadi, Iran's Deputy Oil Minister, announced last month that 10 million barrels of oil without buyers are stored on tankers anchored in the Persian Gulf. The agency states that it is unclear how much of this stored oil was sold last month. Due to sanctions, Iran has kept its oil on tankers anchored in the Persian Gulf for several years to find buyers. In some months, the volume of this oil at sea has exceeded 30 million barrels. Yesterday, OPEC also published its monthly report. OPEC states that Iran's daily oil production last month reached 2.845 million barrels, which is an increase of more than 80,000 barrels compared to the beginning of this year. According to this report, the total production of the 12 OPEC members last month reached about 31 million barrels per day, which is 1 million barrels more than OPEC's production ceiling and 1.5 million barrels more than the global market's needs for this organization's oil. Meanwhile, OPEC members agreed last week to stabilize the organization's production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day.