Iran says it is selling oil at 20% premium as end of U.S. blockade sees 40 million barrels exported

A cargo ship is pictured off coast of the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, the only natural deep-sea port in the region and one of the major container ports in Sharjah Emirate, along the Gulf of Oman on June 28, 2026. - | Afp | Getty Images Iran has exported more than 40 million barrels of crude oil since the U.S. removed its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and is now selling oil at prices roughly 20% higher than before the war, parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday. The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 to end nearly four months of war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and set ​up 60 days of negotiations to work out a permanent peace deal. The two sides briefly traded strikes over the weekend after Iran attacked two transiting vessels. The ceasefire prompted a surge in crude shipments through the vital waterway where traffic had largely ground to a halt during the conflict, sending oil prices sharply lower . "Since the day the naval blockade was lifted, we have exported more than 40 million barrels of oil," Ghalibaf said in a television interview published on his Telegram channel . Iran had been unable to export a single barrel during the roughly two-month blockade that preceded the accord, he added. Tanker tracking firm TankerTrackers.com said Wednesday that it estimated Iran had exported 50 million barrels of crude oil since the U.S. lifted its naval blockade on the country's energy exports two weeks ago. …