Iran exported 36 percent less crude last month than it did in May because of blockages at ports in China, the Islamic republic's biggest customer, Bloomberg reported citing the International Energy Agency's new report.
Imports of Iranian crude reported by consumers fell to 800,000 barrels a day in June from 1.25 million in May, the IEA said in its monthly oil report today. China received 390,000 barrels a day last month, from 550,000 in May, as port congestion there delayed June deliveries of Iran's oil, the Paris-based agency said. That reversed an increase in May that the IEA last month said was due to smoother shipping operations that allowed China to take in supplies delayed from April.
Japan cut Iranian crude imports by more the half to less than 100,000 barrels a day, the IEA said. The decline from 240,000 barrels in May was "reportedly due to a delay in negotiations over contract volumes," the IEA said.
The U.S. and its allies are restricting Iran's oil exports, the country's largest revenue source, and targeting its financial industry. On July 1, the U.S. implemented a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran's shipping and automobile industries, gold sales and financial institutions doing business in the rial, the IEA said.
Iranian crude output rose by 20,000 barrels a day in June to 2.7 million barrels, the IEA said. This is the second consecutive gain in Iran's monthly output, according to data in the four most recent IEA reports. The country added 50,000 barrels a day of output in May and June, nearing the 2.72 million barrel daily production level reached in February, the reports show.
The IEA today revised down its estimate of Iranian crude exports for May from the 1.39 million barrels a day the agency reported in its last monthly report. Estimates of shipments are based on import data submitted by nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, information from customs agencies, news reports and tanker-tracking data, the IEA said.