Bloomberg: Iranian oil stored on tankers at sea rose to as much as 42 million barrels, the International Energy Agency said. The Persian Gulf country added about 10 million barrels of floating storage by the end of last month.

Reuters: The United States has pressed Turkey to follow up on a 20 percent cut in oil purchases from Iran with a further cut in six months time to help persuade Iran to quit stalling in talks over its nuclear programme, a U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.

AP: China defended its imports of Iranian oil but wouldn’t say Tuesday whether it might reduce them to avoid U.S. sanctions against Chinese banks as the U.S. tries to squeeze Iran financially.

AFP: Iran has taken “initial steps” to design its first nuclear-powered submarine, a deputy navy commander claimed in an interview with the Fars news agency published on Tuesday.

Reuters: Iran’s biggest tanker operator, NITC, has $1 billion in ship insurance cover to keep its fleet on the water and serve clients in Asia despite Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s oil trade, a senior NITC official said on Tuesday.

AFP: Iran’s top nuclear negotiator on Tuesday confirmed an agreement had been struck with the EU official representing world powers negotiating with Tehran on the content of upcoming talks in Moscow.

Reuters: Chinese refiner Sinopec has turned down offers of bargain Iranian crude and will cut imports by up to a fifth this year, a senior Chinese oil executive said, insisting ties with the United States were more important than cut-price oil as the West squeezes Tehran over its nuclear program.

Bloomberg: The latest crude price decline has been severe and there’s “tremendous” surplus in the market, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said.

Reuters: The United States will exempt India, South Korea and five other countries from financial sanctions in return for cutting purchases of Iranian oil, but will not grant a waiver to China, Iran’s top crude buyer, congressional aides told Reuters on Monday.