TEHRAN - Iran’s oil exports jumped by 30 percent from last year to 870,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing data from commodity data provider Kpler, as the main Iranian crude buyer, China, is cutting back on imports of Russian oil.
The jump in Iran’s oil exports in Q1 was the fastest among all producers in the Middle East, while the volume of exports is estimated to be the highest since former U.S. president Donald Trump withdrew from the so-called Iranian nuclear deal in 2018, Kpler says, as carried by the Journal.
The Russi-Ukraine crisis has upended global oil trade flows and has emboldened Iran to boost its exports to its customers.
Iran sells its crude oil almost exclusively to China and has never stopped those sales since former president Trump re-imposed the sanctions against Tehran in 2018. Currently, China is also emboldened to import more Iranian crude, not expecting to be hit by secondary sanctions by the U.S. for dealing with Iran.
During the Iranian year that ended on March 20, 2022, Iran’s oil exports rose by over 40 percent, Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji said earlier this month, as carried by the oil ministry’s news service Shana.
“He further said that the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum would never disclose the methods and destinations of its oil exports,” the agency reported in early April.