Iran: Fuel Oil Revenue Up 30% Despite Sanctions

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday February 11, 2015

Iranian officials say the country's fuel oil revenues are up 30 percent compared to last year in spite of western sanctions on exports of oil products from the country, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Iran's oil ministry news website Shana said Iran had earned $1.35 billion on sales of 3 million tonnes of fuel oil in the 10 months to January 21, 2015.

Gasoil revenue was also up 30 percent during the period to $963 million claimed Mohammadreza Mazloumi, a manager at the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company.

It is understood that Iran is targeting combined sales of 4 million tonnes of fuel oil and gasoil for the year to March 20, 2015, despite western sanctions on the country's oil products.

The U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions in 2012 in a bid to halt Iran's nuclear enrichment programme.

Iranian fuel oil is said to make its way on to the Fujairah, UAE, market as smaller companies take risks seeking higher profits.

Shippers are understood to use tactics such as disabling ship tracking data, loading and unloading at remote ports, disguising oil by blending, and selling it with counterfeit documents.

Last week a trader was quoted as saying that "if you deal with fuel oil and bunker business in the UAE, most likely you have to touch Iranian fuel oil because otherwise the economics just don't work."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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