0620 GMT: We begin with further confirmation of the squeeze on Iran's oil trade amid US-led sanctions.
The International Energy Agency has reported that Tehran's exports fell sharply again in April. Shipments could be down this quarter as much as one million barrels a day, about 40% of the country's usual shipments.
Iran's oil production remained steady at 3.3 million barrels a day in April, but it did not sell 15% to 25% of that oil and instead pumped it into floating tanker storage. An IEA specialist said Tehran can only continue this for two months before filling its storage and shutting down fields.
The IEA also said that Iran's fleet of oil tankers have started to play "hide and seek" by disabling their tracking beacons. Out of 38 Iranian oil tankers, only one is currently broadcasting its location, according the tracking service Marine Traffic.
In official submissions to OPEC, the Iranian authorities claim to have actually increased oil production by 38,000 barrels a day since January, to 3.8 million barrels a day in April. OPEC's analysts, using secondary data sources, estimate that Iran's oil production has fallen by 152,000 barrels a day since January to 3.2 million barrels a day in April.
Preliminary trade figures show the Islamic Republic's crude exports fell by 600,000 barrels a day to 1.6 million barrels a day in April, a shipping source said last week.
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