Trump vs the dark fleet: can the US choke off Iran’s oil exports?

"According to data from tanker trackers at US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, Tehran is exporting about 1.6m barrels per day of crude and condensate so far this year, compared with about 660,000 bpd during the first 12 months, after sanctions waivers expired in the spring of 2019. In comparison, Iran exported about 2.5m bpd of crude and condensates in 2017, data from commodities and analytics provider Vortexa showed.

Facilitating the rehabilitation of Iran’s exports is a fleet UANI’s tanker trackers say number over 450 oil and gas tankers (the quoted export figures exclude LPG), and a robust Chinese appetite for sanctioned barrels. According to UANI, over 85% of Iran’s exports this year were shipped to China."