Iran earned around $500.2 million through bunkering ships in the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf region in the 5-month period which ended August 22, 2009.
Iran sold nearly 1.33 million tons of furnace oil in the mentioned period which shows 30 percent increase in comparison to the previous year's figure of 1,098,000 tons, SHANA news agency reported on Monday.
Iran also sold 64,000 tons of gas oil in the mentioned period which is 80 percent more than the last year's figure of 36,000 tons.
Despite the significant increase in terms of volume, Iran's bunkering faced a decrease in value (in comparison to the same period last year) due to the decline in the price of crude oil.
Iran's revenue from bunkering in the same period last year stood at $705 million.
Iran earned $1.9 billion through bunkering service in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2009).
Ship bunkering is the process of refueling a ship.