Iran is building up its shipping fleet in a bid to maintain oil exports as its customers dwindle amid tight international sanctions against the country, the International Energy Agency said Friday.
Iran
is
building up its shipping fleet in a bid to maintain oil exports as its
customers dwindle amid tight international sanctions against the country, the
International Energy Agency said Friday.
The Islamic republic has struggled to sell its crude oil as a result of
sanctions imposed by the
U.S.
,
United Nations and the European Union, which accuse
Tehran
of
developing a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of a civilian nuclear
program.
"Expanding the shipping fleet should provide the state oil company more
flexibility in marketing its crude and for use in floating storage," the
IEA said.
Iran
has
added seven new Very Large Crude Carriers to its fleet since the beginning of
the year, including four in the last four months, the agency said. National
Iranian Tanker Co.'s fleet now numbers 37 VLCCs, with a total capacity of 64
million barrels, and 14 smaller tankers, with a capacity of 12.5 million
barrels.
At the end of July,
Iran
's oil
in floating storage stood at 30 million barrels, unchanged from June, it said.
Iran
produced 2.65 million barrels of oil a day in July, compared with output of 3.5
million barrels a day in December 2011 before strict sanctions on oil exports
were imposed.
While preliminary data show the country's oil exports rose to 1.16 million
barrels a day in July from 960,000 barrels a day in June,
Iran
supplied oil to just five customers--
China
,
Japan
,
South
Korea
,
Turkey
and
the
United Arab Emirates
, the
IEA said.
Although India has imported on average 200,000 barrels a day from Iran this
year, preliminary data for July show the country imported nothing last month as
companies faced difficulty securing insurance for shipping and refining
operations, the IEA said.
The election of moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani to the Iranian presidency in
June could, however, bring about a thaw in relations with the West even as the
U.S.
pushes for tougher sanctions. While campaigning, Mr. Rowhani promised to move
to ease the sanctions, and he has since struck a conciliatory tone, calling for
"serious" negotiations on
Iran
's
nuclear program.
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