The increase in Iranian shipments comes in the same month
that key OPEC Plus producers Saudi Arabia and Russia kept a lid on their own
oil exports in a bid to tighten the market.
According to the TankerTrackers data, Iranian crude exports
topped two million barrels a day in the first 20 days of August, the highest
this year.
Iran has been steadily ramping up its oil production and
exports this year, finding buyers for its supplies in Asia. The country’s
production is now at the highest level since a ban on its exports kicked in
five years ago, with US officials privately acknowledging they’ve gradually
relaxed enforcement on some of the measures.
Earlier
this month, SVB International, an energy consultant, estimated Iran’s oil
production in August to be 3.15 million bpd, the highest since 2018.
“Iran is on the path to recover its pre-sanctions oil
production,” said SVB’s Sara Vakhshouri, Business Recorder reported.
Analysts
believe the higher exports of Iranian crude oil appear to be the result of the
Islamic Republic’s success in evading US sanctions.
Back in August, Bloomberg reported that China’s oil imports
from Iran were soaring in August so that the shipments were expected to reach
1.5 million bpd, the highest since 2013.
Citing estimates from data intelligence firm Kpler, Bloomberg
put China’s imports of Iranian oil during the January-July 2023 period at
917,000 bpd on average.
In late July, Kpler said that Iran’s oil shipments to China
have more than tripled over the past three years despite the U.S. sanctions on
the country and the increase in Russia’s shipments to the Asian country.
According
to the data analyzing firm, Iranian crude exports to its major trade partner
have been hovering around one million bpd in 2023, while the figure was roughly
325,000 bpd in 2020.
Also, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a recent
report titled "Oil 2023" confirmed Iran's daily export of one million
barrels of oil to China, saying, “Despite severe financial restrictions, Iran
managed to increase its crude oil production by about 140,000 barrels per day
in 2022 to an average of 2.5 million barrels per day. It seems that Tehran has
maintained its crude sales to China, which has been around one million barrels
per day since the third quarter of last year.”
Earlier
in April, Bloomberg reported that “Chinese private refineries are buying more
Iranian oil despite the rising competition for supplies from Russia.”
“So-called teapots are prioritizing the flows, with Russian
supplies getting pricier as mainstream buyers such as state-owned Chinese
refiners and Indian processors take a greater share,” the report read.
In March, China’s imports of Iranian crude and condensate
jumped 20% month-on-month to 800,000 barrels a day, and are on track to extend
gains in coming months, Emma Li, an analyst with data intelligence firm Vortexa
Ltd told Bloomberg that month.
While Iranian oil has long been sanctioned by the U.S.,
refiners in China have proved to be a consistent outlet.
Most Iranian oil used to go to state-owned refineries but
“the private refiners in Shandong especially are now running the show,” said
Homayoun Falakshahi, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler.
