US Officials Privately Say Approach to Iran Oil Relaxed: Bloomberg

Iran and the US seem to have produced an informal arrangement on oil flows despite no return yet to their lapsed nuclear agreement according to Bloomberg.

• US officials privately acknowledge they’ve gradually relaxed some enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
• A State Department spokesperson said the US continues to stringently enforce a robust framework of oil and other sanctions against Iran. The official noted that export levels fluctuate regularly in response to prices and other factors.
• Iran oil production has gradually risen this year to the highest level since sanctions were introduced five years ago amid increased sales to China driven by discounted Iranian oil prices.
• The US is relaxed about expanded sales to China but won’t tolerate purchases by most of Iran’s pre-sanctions customers such as South Korea, Japan or European countries.
• Iran has increased its crude oil production to 3.2mbpd, compared to 2mbpd when the current administration took office two years ago and is planning for 3.4mbpd by the end of summer according to Iran’s Oil Minister. The country’s total production capacity is 3.8mbpd.