Iranian crude shipments to Europe, India tick up.

摘要

Iran's total crude exports fell slightly on the month in Dec.—from 2.18MM b/d to 2.15MM b/d according to Argus tracking, and from 2.15MM b/d to 2.10MM b/d according to National Iranian Oil Co.—but shipments to Europe rose substantially, rising about 155K b/d on the month to nearly 700K b/d. The volume was the highest for shipments to Europe since Western sanctions on Iran were removed. Additionally, Argus data showed that the percentage of Iran's overall exports going to Asia had dropped below 60% in Dec, a low for 2016 and indicating that trade routes to the West are continuing to open up. Sources said that Italy was a mainstay buyer in Europe— Eni has signed a contract to take term volumes of up to 100K b/d, and has made a number of spot purchases as well in recent months—but other oudets included buyers in France, Spain, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Romania and the Netherlands.