TankerTrackers.com Inc., which provides data on oil cargo shipments to governments, insurers and other institutions, estimates that Iran exported 2.2 million barrel per day (bpd) of crude and condensates during the first 20 days of August.
It was already known that Iran’s shipments were surging, but the data for August would represent a marked leg higher if maintained for the remainder of the period, the report added.
The flow rate for the past 28 days show shipments running at a rate of 2.1 million bpd.
The lion’s share of the August flow has been crude with just over 200,000 bpd of condensate — a lighter form of oil.
Iranian oil exports have seen consistent rises since the second half of 2021 when Iran came up with innovative solutions, including offering major discounts, to supply oil to its customers.
Some media outlets claimed a recent deal between Iran and the US, which covered prisoner exchange and the release of Iranian blocked assets in South Korea, may have included arrangements on easing of US sanctions on Iran in return for a slowing down of the Iranian nuclear program.
Iran has consistently denied it will accept illegitimate US demands about its nuclear or defense activities.
That comes as some regional sources have claimed that the emerging Iran-US prisoner swap deal may be a prelude to a broader agreement between the two countries to return to an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
The deal, known as the JCPOA, has suffered since 2018 when a former US government pulled out of it and imposed sanctions on Tehran.