LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Turkey exported far more gasoline to Iran in June than previously indicated ahead of far reaching U.S.-led sanctions, figures from the Turkish government received by Reuters showed on Thursday.
Turkey sold 138,673 tonnes of the motor fuel to Iran in June, the equivalent of more than four standard cargo tankers, or 1.2 million barrels.
The Islamic Republic turned to Turkey and China for gasoline imports when most other sellers stopped supplying it ahead of U.S. sanctions, which came into force in July.
The threat of sanctions meant Iran had to pay well above the norm for the fuel, data from TUIK, the Turkish statistical institute, showed.
Turkey received $121.8 million from Iran for the sales, which amounted to an average of $878 a tonne. That is 25 percent above the average spot price in the Mediterranean in June of around $700 a tonne, according to Reuters data.
“It’s a ridiculous level but not unexpected,” one European gasoline trader said. “When every oil major and trader is being pressured to drop supply, it comes down to the Turks and Chinese.”
