Iran’s oil exports are tumbling again as the country’s key buyers in Asia take fewer cargoes in the weeks before U.S. sanctions take full effect.
The Persian Gulf nation shipped just under 2.1 million barrels a day of crude and condensates in August, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the lowest since March 2016. Observed crude flows were the weakest since January.
“We still have two months to go before November 4 and we expect to see further decreases in shipments to OECD Asia, Europe and India,” said Michael Tran, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, adding he anticipates Iran deepening discounts for its crude to find buyers.
