LONDON: Iran has sent small shipments of crude oil to new destinations such as Bangladesh and Oman, according to shipping sources and data, the latest sign of Tehran pushing to sustain output at close to its highest in five years.

Oil Minister Javad Owji said in July that Iran was selling crude oil to 17 countries, including those in Europe, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. The details could not corroborated.

In one new trade, the Golden Eagle tanker sai­l­ed near the port of Chit­tagong in Bangladesh earlier this year after receiving oil from another vessel that loaded it from Irans Kharg Island according to available evidence based on shipping data, Claire Jungman, from US advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Reuters.

The Golden Eagle offlo­aded parts of the cargo to smaller tankers around Chitt­agong in April, said Jun­gman, whose organisation tracks Iran-related tanker traffic via satellite.

The shipment to Bangla­desh was separately confirmed by another oil export tracking source.

An official with state-owned Bangladesh Petr­oleum Corporation, which operates the country’s main refinery, said it did not buy the cargo and it was difficult to establish who was the buyer.

Iranian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least eight cargoes of oil — mostly from Iran — were heading to Syria with some already discharged, shipping sources said. Shipments to Syria,

A separate tanker delivered a cargo believed to be Iranian crude oil into the Omani port of Sohar in June after loading the consignment via a ship-to-ship transfer with another vessel that picked up the shipment from Iran’s Kharg Island earlier this year, UANI’s Jungman said, citing shipping data.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024