US Records Show Iran Oil Cargo Landed One Month After Ship Seizure

A cargo of 1.033 million barrels of Iranian crude oil landed on U.S. shores in March, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed, the second shipment of Iranian oil to be imported into the United States since 1991.

The cargo was registered in EIA data released late last week for the month following the seizure by U.S. authorities of the Liberian-flagged tanker Achilleas, which was transporting Iranian crude.

The EIA gave no other details on the Iranian cargo, and the agency could not be reached for comment outside of U.S. office hours. Monday is a holiday in the United States.

The United States last recorded Iranian crude and petroleum imports of 3,000 barrels per day for October 2020, EIA data showed, also oil Washington had seized under its sanctions program.

Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed that the Achilleas discharged its cargo at the U.S. Gulf port of Galveston in March.

The seizure was in line with tough economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran over its nuclear program and the U.S. designation of a number of Iranian groups as terrorist organizations, continuing decades of rancor between the two nations. Iran rejects U.S. accusations of wrongdoing.

Iran has been in talks with world powers since April, working on steps that Tehran and Washington must take on sanctions and nuclear activities to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact.

(Reuters - Reporting by Florence Tan, Gavin Maguire and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Tom Hogue)