Iran’s Dec oil exports down to Asia, up to Europe

According to media reports, Iran’s oil exports to Asia fell by 8% in December from the previous month and hit the lowest level of five months due to the decrease in purchases of China and other Asian countries, except India, while the exports to Europe were up 10% from November, posting the highest increase of 2016.

Iran’s crude exports to Asia in December so far reportedly fell from 2.04 million barrels/year in November to 1.88 million barrels/year, signaling that the country is having difficulties with rebalancing production after the sanctions were lifted this year. The amount equals a decrease of 17% from November levels.

According to the data, crude oil exports to China decreased by 28% month on month, to the lowest since October 2015. The exports to Japan were also down by 1.6% from a month earlier while exports to South Korea were half of the November levels with 60,000 barrels/year.

Meanwhile, the only country to which exports increased was India, with a growth of 12% from November, the data showed.

However, Iran’s crude oil exports were still up by 81% on a yearly basis on the back of the rise in exports to Europe.