Iran’s Oil Exports to China Bounce Back

The February average of Iranian oil exports to its biggest buyer is set to average 1.74 million barrels daily, according to preliminary data from Kpler cited by Bloomberg. The figure is an 86% increase from January flows.

The boost in shipments was enabled by the opening of new receiving terminals and more ship-to-ship transfers, the Bloomberg report noted.

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said in February that the United States will never achieve its dream of cutting Iran’s oil exports to zero as touted by its new president Donald Trump.

“Blocking Iran’s oil exports is an unattainable dream,” said Paknejad while reacting to Trump’s recent signing of an executive order to impose maximum pressure on Iran’s oil industry.

He insisted that Iran will always come up with solutions to circumvent US bans on its oil exports.

“The more the restrictions increase, the more complicated our solutions will be,” said the minister, adding that the experts and staff working in the Iranian petroleum industry have the capacities to deal with problems caused by US sanctions to the country’s production and exports of oil.

He said the US once experienced the futility of its maximum pressure policy on Iran during Trump’s first term in office in 2016-2020.

“They want to test it one more time and they will fail again,” said the minister.

4155/v