Tehran sold an average of 1.56 million barrels per day during the first three months of the year, almost all of it to China and its highest level since the third quarter of 2018, according to data from the company Vortexa.
Iran’s success in exporting its crude oil underscores the difficulties facing the United States and the EU as they seek to increase pressure on Tehran.
“The Iranians have mastered the art of circumventing sanctions,” said Fernando Ferreira, head of Rapidan Energy Group’s geopolitical risk service in the United States.
In Tehran, the Tasnim news agency reported Wednesday that the country’s oil industry had found ways to circumvent sanctions.
Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Oji stated last month that oil exports had generated more than $35 billion the previous year. On another occasion, he said that while Iran’s enemies wanted to stop its exports, “today we can export oil wherever we want and with minimal discounts.”
Earlier this month, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Iran produced 3.25 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March 2024, 20,000 bpd more than the previous month.
According to the EIA report, Iran’s oil production in February amounted to 3.23 million bpd.
Iran has produced an average of 3.2 million barrels of oil per day in the first quarter of this year, according to the report.
Iran’s oil production in the first quarter of this year has increased by 50,000 bpd compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year and by 630,000 barrels per day compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Iran produced 2.6 million bpd of oil in the first quarter of the previous year and 3.18 million bpd in the fourth quarter of the aforementioned year.
With a 630,000 barrel increase in oil production over the past year, Iran had the largest production increase among OPEC members, according to the EIA.
Gabon, Nigeria and Venezuela have been the only OPEC members to increase production over the past year. Gabon’s production increased by 10,000 bpd, Nigeria by 40,000 bpd and Venezuela by 90,000 bpd.
OPEC oil production in the first quarter of last year was 27.38 billion bpd, which has decreased by 720,000 barrels to 26.66 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
According to the EIA report, Iran maintained its position as the organization’s third-largest oil producer in March.