TEHRAN – The number of Iran’s oil buyers which was limited to five countries in the sanctions era has risen to 10 with the sanctions removed, IRNA reported on Monday.

Following the January implementation of the nuclear deal Iran raised both exports and production in an attempt to regain its market share lost under international sanctions.

Based on the report, France’s Total was the first European company to start a long-term contract to buy oil from Iran. Then Greece’s Hellenic, Spain’s CEPSA, Saras from Italy and lately Lotus from Poland joined the buyers of Iranian oil.

According to Mohsen Ghamsari, National Iranian Oil Co.’s director of international affairs, Europeans are now buying 25 percent of Iran’s oil so that the country is exporting about 600,000 barrels of Oil to Europe per day, IRNA reported.

China, Japan, India, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Greece, Italy, Spain and Poland were among countries which bought Iranian crude During July based on the reports released.

At the time being, Iran has regained about 80 percent of the market share it held before the U.S. and European Union tightened sanctions on its oil industry in 2012, when Iran’s oil exports to Europe was almost completely stopped and only Turkey shipped in about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the exports to other countries were also limited to one million bpd in total.

The country has increased its daily production from 2.7 million bpd to 3.8 million bpd in 2016 from which 2.1 million barrels are being exported.

EF/MA