TEHRAN, March 10 - Japan will not lift any Iranian crude oil this month which will also see Iran’s exports fall to the lowest level in two years, unconfirmed reports say.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Iran will sell 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate in March, down by one-third of exports in the previous month, Reuters reported on Friday.
Asia accounts for 60% of Iran’s crude and condensate exports. According to the report, shipments to main Asian customers are set to total 1.12 million bpd this month, down by one-third from February and the lowest since November 2015.
An unnamed source, quoted by Reuters, suggested that uncertainty over sovereign insurance for tankers had prompted Japan to buy no Iranian crude in March. Japan is the fourth biggest buyer of Iranian oil in Asia, which lifted 218,757 bpd from the Middle Eastern country in December.
There was no reaction to the report from Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum on Saturday. The decline comes after reports that Iran had offered 100% discount on its freights to India.
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh told reporters after a meeting with Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi last month that India’s state-owned companies were going to increase their level of Iranian oil purchase.
Source: Press TV