Iran Has Already Restarted Oil Exports Under the Ceasefire Deal — About 20 Million Barrels Moved

Here's the short version: Iran didn't waste any time. Within days of signing a ceasefire deal with the U.S., Iran had already shipped roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil — and the global energy market is now watching very closely to see what comes next.

Let's back up. Since late February 2026, the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway that funnels roughly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil — had been effectively shut down. <a>The U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed, and in retaliation, Iran closed the strait.</a> That triggered what historians are already calling the largest disruption to global energy supply since the 1970s oil crisis.

For months, oil tankers piled up in the Gulf with nowhere to go. <a>Brent crude prices surpassed $100 a barrel and hit a peak of $126 a barrel.</a> If you felt it at the gas pump, that's why.

Then, on June 17, U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding at Versailles. The deal includes a 60-day ceasefire window, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and — crucially for Iran — immediate U.S. sanctions waivers allowing Tehran to legally sell its oil again for the first time in months. Iran had been relying on a shadow fleet of tankers and covert networks to sell crude at steep discounts almost entirely to China. That door just got a lot wider.

So what happened next? Iran moved fast. Shipping data reported by Bloomberg and cited in Iran International's liveblog shows that about 20 million barrels of crude were moved using tankers that had been sitting anchored near Chabahar — Iran's deep-water port on the Gulf of Oman, outside the strait entirely. Think of it as Iran's backup exit. Those tankers had been staged and ready to go; the deal gave them the green light.

Loading operations also restarted at Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub inside the Persian Gulf. At least 20 more tankers remain anchored east of Kharg, suggesting there's a lot more oil ready to move if the diplomatic situation holds.

The catch? Not everyone is rushing back in. Some major international shipping companies are still cautious about transiting the Strait of Hormuz itself, citing ongoing security concerns. You can't exactly undo months of attacks on commercial vessels and sea mines overnight.

For oil markets, the math is significant. Iran was exporting roughly 1.5 million barrels per day before the conflict. Analysts say it could ramp up to 2 to 2.5 million barrels per day if sanctions relief holds — a meaningful jump in global supply. Oil prices have already fallen more than 35% in the past month, with Brent crude trading around $77 a barrel. That's good news if you drive a car or pay energy bills.

But there's a 60-day clock ticking. The MoU is a framework, not a final deal. Negotiators from both sides are now in Switzerland hammering out the hard stuff: Iran's nuclear program, the fate of its enriched uranium stockpile, the future of U.S. sanctions, and what happens to over $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets. If talks collapse, those oil flows — and the lower prices — could vanish just as fast.

Oh, and Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel right after the ink dried, which reminded everyone how many moving parts this region has. The Lebanon ceasefire is holding for now, but it's fragile.