National Iranian Oil Company: We No Longer Have Oil on the Water

Mohsen Qamsari, the director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, has announced that Iran currently has no crude oil without buyers on the water; the term 'oil on the water' refers to crude oil stored in tankers waiting for buyers. After Western sanctions and a decline in crude oil exports, Iran had stored a massive amount of unsold oil and gas condensates in anchored tankers in the Persian Gulf. According to the International Energy Agency, Iran had about 37 million barrels of oil on the water by the end of 2013. The U.S. Energy Information Administration had also reported that the volume of oil on the water in Iran could reach 50 million barrels, most of which was gas condensates. Gas condensates are a type of ultra-light crude oil produced from gas wells. Before the sanctions, Iran exported 300,000 barrels of gas condensates daily, but customs statistics show that in the first half of 2016, this figure reached about 400,000 barrels. With the lifting of sanctions, Iran rapidly increased its oil exports, and currently, Iran's oil sales exceed 2 million barrels per day, which is double the amount during the sanctions period. On Sunday, October 25, Qamsari told Mehr News Agency about the latest status of Iran's gas condensate exports, stating: 'Currently, the volume of gas condensate exports has increased to more than 600,000 barrels per day.' However, customs statistics also indicate that Iran's gas condensate exports in the month of Shahrivar increased by only 40,000 barrels per day compared to the average exports of this product in the previous months, reaching 438,000 barrels per day. No official statistics for gas condensate sales for the current month have been published yet. However, Qamsari mentioned that currently, the volume of gas condensate exports exceeds domestic production. He stated that previously (during the sanctions), gas condensates produced were stored in about 20 tankers. Mehr News Agency further reports that with the onset of the post-JCPOA period, Iran had stored about 40 to 50 million barrels of gas condensates in over 20 giant tankers in the Persian Gulf, and the reason for the increase in gas condensate storage on the water was the lack of buyers for this oil product. This board member of the National Oil Company emphasized that currently, the volume of gas condensate storage has significantly decreased due to increased exports of this oil product, stating: 'It is expected that, given the marketing efforts made, all stored gas condensates will gradually enter the market.' He stated that 'Iran has no unsold crude oil shipments on the water, and all produced oil is being sent to the market.' In this context, Iran faces the challenge of 'finding ships' for its increasing oil exports. Reuters: Solving the insurance problem for Iranian tankers will take another two to three months. A Ministry of Oil official: Iran has no unsold oil on the waters.