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Iran oil exports at 8-month high as US waivers end

Iranian oil exports for will reach Japan, South Korea, India and China in April.

Asian buyers lifted 1.57 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Iran in March, the highest in eight months, data from government and trade sources show.

The imports by China, India, Japan and South Korea were up 36 percent from the previous month and the highest since July.  

Data on Refinitiv Eikon also showed China has Iranian oil arriving in early May despite the end of US waivers for imports from the Middle Eastern country on Wednesday.

Iranian oil exports for April will also reach Japan, South Korea, India and China, the global provider of financial markets data and infrastructure said.

"Americans are looking to zero out Iran's oil exports, but we will never allow this dream of the enemy to come true," Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said on Wednesday.

The record imports came as Asia's top oil buyers rushed for more cargoes from Iran ahead of May 1 on which Washington has pledged to revoke the waivers.

The United States granted eight buyers of Iranian crude waivers to the import sanctions that went into full effect in November but did not extend them last week.

According to Consultancy FGE, China is most likely to continue Iran oil imports, while other buyers are also about to get cargoes from the country.

"The new tougher stance from the US implies that exports will likely be some 300,000-400,000 bpd lower than we previously expected," FGE said.

The loss in supplies, it said, will make the market more skittish and lead to price rises.

US officials contend there are sufficient supplies to replace Iran's oil, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ready to meet additional demand.

However, Iranian officials and international energy analysts have cast doubt on that and said the question is how they can really do it and for how long.

In the absence of Iranian barrels, Asian refiners are expected to reach out to producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for more supplies.

However, OPEC oil supply hit a four-year low in April, a Reuters survey released on Tuesday found, due to further involuntary declines in sanctions-hit Iran and Venezuela and output restraint by Saudi Arabia.

According to the news agency, the 14-member organization pumped 30.23 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, down 90,000 bpd from March and the lowest OPEC total since 2015.

“The survey suggests that Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies are maintaining even larger supply cuts than called for by OPEC's latest deal, shrugging off pressure from US President Donald Trump,” it said.

The Iran sanctions, Norbert Ruecker of Swiss bank Julius Baer told Reuters, come on top of already fragile supplies and raise concerns about tightening markets.


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