NEW DELHI/ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran has awarded its first cargo of West Karoun oil to Spain’s Repsol (REP.MC), two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, indicating that Tehran is keen to boost its oil exports despite the looming threat of sanctions.
The Persian Gulf nation’s exports hit 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) oil in May, the oil ministry’s news agency SHANA reported on Saturday, a new record since the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran in 2016.
Iran exported 2.4 million bpd of crude oil in May, SHANA reported, and 300,000 bpd of natural gas condensate.
U.S. President Donald Trump last month pulled out of the 2015 accord between Iran and world powers that lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear programme.
The remaining signatories of the deal – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – still see the international accord as the best chance of stopping Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon and are trying to salvage it.
Iran is marketing the West Karoun crude as Pars oil, two sources said. Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran considers the nuclear deal in place as long as Iran could sell its crude and receive its money.