DUBAI: Iran exported 11 million barrels of condensate to South Korea in December, partly delivered from tankers located outside the Gulf, the Iranian oil ministry's news website SHANA said on Sunday.
"Three South Korean companies bought a total of 11 million barrels of gas condensates from Iran in December, so the Asian country remains the biggest receiver of condensate from Iran," SHANA said.
The report was published as a denial of a Reuters story that quoted a source with knowledge of Iran's preliminary tanker schedule as saying Iranian condensate exports were set to fall 17 percent to a five-month low in January, as main buyer South Korea cut purchases by nearly half and takes more barrels from Qatar.
"It appears that Reuters' report is based on monitoring of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz (at the mouth of the Gulf), while Iran had several supertankers full of condensate located since earlier in open seas and near China that covered some of theses sales," SHANA said.
Although Reuters' report referred to January sales, SHANA did not give condensate export figures for January.
Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, does not publish monthly data on its condensate and crude exports.
Iran scored a victory when it was exempted from an OPEC deal agreed in November to reduce production by 1.2 million bpd, and traders have expected it to raise output slightly and boost exports to reclaim market share.
Tehran has also been aggressively marketing oil from its offshore storage.
It has sold more than 13 million barrels of oil that it had long held on tankers at sea.
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