Irna News Agency quoted sources on Saturday saying it had sold all the stock of crude oil it owns in tankers in the region or international waters.
Sources who said Ilna had first-hand knowledge of the issue said recent data released by two tanker tracking services, namely Kpler and Vortexa, suggesting that Iran had up to 120 million barrels of crude oil in a sea tanker that he couldn’t sell.
“But we cannot provide statistics on oil sales and export destinations. But we definitely have no unsold oil in the ocean,” the source said, referring to Iran’s policy of keeping oil export information secret due to US sanctions.
Sources said the fact that Iran’s oil exports increased by 0.12 million barrels per day (BPD) over the four months from late July to late July is a clear indication that there is no floating oil storage that cannot be sold.
However, authorities said the accumulation of offshore stocks, cited by Kpler and Vortexa as a sign of a decline in Iran’s oil exports, was due to the fact that customers delayed unloading tankers carrying Iran’s oil.
Iran uses a complex network of tankers and brokers to avoid US sanctions and enable it to export oil.
The country has recorded 1.8 million bpd of oil exports in recent months, with the majority of its cargo being delivered to private Chinese buyers.
MNA/