Asian Imports of Iranian Oil Steady
TOKYO (Dispatches) -- Asian buyers of Iranian crude imported 6.6% less in September than a year ago, the first on-year decline since December, but shipments rose back above the 1 million barrels-per-day mark allowed under a deal that eased Western sanctions.
World powers are negotiating to strike a permanent settlement with Iran on its nuclear program by a Nov. 24 deadline.
Tehran's crude sales would likely surge if Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States reach any agreement with Iran that would scuttle the sanctions.
"Asian imports from Iran are likely to rise after that," said an analyst at a North Asian oil refiner who buys crude from Iran, Reuters reported. "We should focus on how that would affect global crude supplies."
The analyst, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he thought a deal would be reached by the November deadline.
After a temporary deal was reach in November of last year to ease some of the sanctions, Iran's sales to its biggest Asian buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - jumped by as much as a third in the first quarter of this year.
A similar upswing in Iran's exports now would add to an oil glut that has already reduced Brent futures to levels not seen since late 2010.
China, India, Japan and South Korea together in September took in 1.08 million bpd of the Islamic Republic's crude, down 6.6% from a year ago but up from 921,064 bpd in August, government and tanker-tracking data obtained by Reuters showed.
In the first nine months of 2014, the four buyers' imports averaged 1.14 million bpd, up 19.6% from the same period last year.
The interim agreement between Iran and world powers last year allowed Iran to keep exports at the reduced level of about 1 million bpd. But imports by Iran's four major clients in Asia have topped that mark every month of this year except August, rising to as much as 1.37 million bpd in February, although there has not been an apparent crackdown on the higher volumes.
Prior to a toughed sanctions regime introduced in 2012, Iran's crude exports had averaged 2.5 million bpd.
Tehran's largest oil client China has since late 2013, when the interim deal was reached, been stepping up purchases, accounting for most of the stronger Asian imports since then.
China's firm imports - along with No.2 buyer India - have countered lower year-to-date imports by Japan and South Korea.
China's imports from Tehran for the January-September period were at 570,350 bpd, up 33.2% on year. For September, China's imports from Iran rose 5.8% from last year to a two-month high of 503,261 bpd.
India's imports in September fell 18.5% from last year to 241,400 bpd, and over January-September, imports rose 38.1% to 267,800 bpd.
South Korea's imports from Iran last month fell 2.3% from a year ago to 134,300 bpd, while its shipments for the January-September period were down 6.7% from last year to 127,458 bpd.
Shipments to Japan - the last of the four to report its oil intake - fell by 18.4% to 205,798 bpd last month, trade ministry data showed on Friday. For the year through September, imports fell 10.5% from a year ago to 174,395 bpd.
World powers are negotiating to strike a permanent settlement with Iran on its nuclear program by a Nov. 24 deadline.
Tehran's crude sales would likely surge if Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States reach any agreement with Iran that would scuttle the sanctions.
"Asian imports from Iran are likely to rise after that," said an analyst at a North Asian oil refiner who buys crude from Iran, Reuters reported. "We should focus on how that would affect global crude supplies."
The analyst, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he thought a deal would be reached by the November deadline.
After a temporary deal was reach in November of last year to ease some of the sanctions, Iran's sales to its biggest Asian buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - jumped by as much as a third in the first quarter of this year.
A similar upswing in Iran's exports now would add to an oil glut that has already reduced Brent futures to levels not seen since late 2010.
China, India, Japan and South Korea together in September took in 1.08 million bpd of the Islamic Republic's crude, down 6.6% from a year ago but up from 921,064 bpd in August, government and tanker-tracking data obtained by Reuters showed.
In the first nine months of 2014, the four buyers' imports averaged 1.14 million bpd, up 19.6% from the same period last year.
The interim agreement between Iran and world powers last year allowed Iran to keep exports at the reduced level of about 1 million bpd. But imports by Iran's four major clients in Asia have topped that mark every month of this year except August, rising to as much as 1.37 million bpd in February, although there has not been an apparent crackdown on the higher volumes.
Prior to a toughed sanctions regime introduced in 2012, Iran's crude exports had averaged 2.5 million bpd.
Tehran's largest oil client China has since late 2013, when the interim deal was reached, been stepping up purchases, accounting for most of the stronger Asian imports since then.
China's firm imports - along with No.2 buyer India - have countered lower year-to-date imports by Japan and South Korea.
China's imports from Tehran for the January-September period were at 570,350 bpd, up 33.2% on year. For September, China's imports from Iran rose 5.8% from last year to a two-month high of 503,261 bpd.
India's imports in September fell 18.5% from last year to 241,400 bpd, and over January-September, imports rose 38.1% to 267,800 bpd.
South Korea's imports from Iran last month fell 2.3% from a year ago to 134,300 bpd, while its shipments for the January-September period were down 6.7% from last year to 127,458 bpd.
Shipments to Japan - the last of the four to report its oil intake - fell by 18.4% to 205,798 bpd last month, trade ministry data showed on Friday. For the year through September, imports fell 10.5% from a year ago to 174,395 bpd.