DUBAI - Iran's oil exports have remained steady in recent months, Iran's OPEC governor said on Saturday, denying a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that Iran is struggling to arrest a decline in its oil sales.
In a report on Friday, the IEA estimated Iran's exports falling to a new low of 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September, a huge plunge from 2.2 million bpd at the end of 2011.
The drop in Iranian supply is supporting oil prices and hurting Tehran's revenues, deepening hardship for a population deprived of basic imports and adding to pressure on the government over its nuclear program.
But Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's OPEC governor, said the IEA's data was faulty and ran counter to data provided to OPEC by Iran.
"Iran's oil exports are the same as previous months and the situation is stable," Khatibi was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Saturday.