Iran has sent small shipments of crude oil to new destinations such as Bangladesh and Oman, according to shipping sources and data, the latest sign of Tehran pushing to sustain output at close to its highest in five years.
Oil sales are Iran’s major revenue source and the country has been looking for ways to sidestep U.S. sanctions on its crude exports that former president Donald Trump re-imposed in 2018 over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran, which is exempt from output quotas set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is striving to maximize production and exports.
Oil Minister Javad Owji said in July that Iran was selling crude oil to 17 countries, including those in Europe, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. The details could not corroborated.
In one new trade, the Golden Eagle tanker sailed near the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh earlier this year after receiving oil from another vessel that loaded it from Iran’s Kharg Island according to available evidence based on shipping data, Claire Jungman, from U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, told Reuters.
The Golden Eagle offloaded parts of the cargo to smaller tankers in ship-to-ship transfer operations around Chittagong in April, said Jungman,…