TEHRAN - Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji says crude oil exports from the country will further increase in the upcoming months despite the growing pressure of the U.S. sanctions on the Iranian energy sector.
Owji said that Iranian oil exports had reached significant levels in February amid efforts by the country to get round the sanctions and pump more oil to markets in East Asia.
“Iran’s oil sales over the last month (February) was considerable despite the sanctions and they are expected to further increase in the coming months,” the minister was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Figures by international tanker tracking services released in January showed that oil exports from Iran in late 2022 had reached records not seen since the country came under U.S. sanctions nearly five years ago.
The figures suggested that Iran had pumped more than 1.2 million barrels per day of oil to export markets late last year and showed that Iranian crude shipments had continued to rise in early 2023 with higher exports to China and Venezuela.
In his remarks on Sunday, Owji said revenues collected from Iranian oil exports had more than doubled in early 2023 compared to the same period last year.
He said revenues from sales of Iranian petrochemical shipments had reached nearly $14 billion in the 11 months to late January.