Iran oil exports reach record levels in May

Iran's oil exports reached new highs last month, with preliminary figures from monitoring group United Against Nuclear Iran showing Tehran shipped more than 1.5m barrels per day. Barring any significant downward revision, this would be the most oil exported by Iran since early 2019, when waivers issued by the Trump administration following the reimposition of sanctions expired. "Iran is competing with Russia to sell its oil and is succeeding, with last month’s oil exports reaching record levels,” UANI chief of staff Claire Jungman told Lloyd’s List. “We have not seen any sanctions from the US administration since March 2023, despite secretary of state Anthony Blinken’s commitment to enforce sanctions against Iran. There are several vessels to be sanctioned, owners and operators. Instead, we see the same vessels shuttle Iranian oil back and forth over and over again.”