March 15, 2024
I ran is successfully defying US sanctions with surging exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Iran last year became the biggest Middle Eastern supplier of the fuel which is used for heating, cooking and as a feedstock for chemical plants with exports surging 28 percent to more than 11 million tons, according to an analysis of ship tracking data and market intelligence by the consultancy Facts Global Energy (FGE).
The firm expects exports to continue climbing beyond 12 million tons this year. Iran was the Middle East’s last-place exporter of LPG as recently as 2020, but has seen its sales skyrocket since then The increase is driven by rising production from the South Pars gasfield as well as greater shipping capacity between Iran and China, where almost all of the fuel is sent, Iman Nasseri, FGE’s managing director for the Middle East, told Bloomberg. The US is trying to tighten enforcement of sanctions on Iran’s energy trade in order to choke off its financial resources. Yet tough action risks pushing up prices and hurting consumers.
Despite the US pressure, Iranian oil exports have also swelled, rising to a five-year high of more than 3 million barrels a day last year, though exports have dropped in recent months.
The overwhelming majority of Iran’s crude exports also go to China, which has been the toughest place for the US to enforce sanctions under both the Biden and Trump Administrations.