Trade house Trafigura loads first cargo of Iranian crude

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LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Trading house Trafigura has loaded its first major cargo of Iranian crude oil for delivery to Asia, industry sources and ship tracking showed.

Trafigura loaded the crude onto the Olympic Target tanker, capable of holding 2 million barrels of oil at the end of June, according to a shipping source.

The tanker left Iran's main export terminal Kharg Island on June 26 and was now heading to Asia, according to Reuters shipping data.

A spokeswoman for Trafigura said the company did not comment on day-to-day commercial activities.

Iran's state oil firm is strict about the re-selling of its crude once it has reached an agreement with a buyer, which complicates deals with trading houses, industry sources said.

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) this cargo, Trafigura appears to have beaten its competitors Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) and Vitol in securing a deal. According to its latest results, Trafigura overtook Glencore to become the world's second biggest independent oil trader.

Since international sanctions on Iran's oil exports were lifted in January this year, OPEC's third biggest producer has been steadily clawing back its old market share and going after new buyers such as Poland in direct competition with Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Oil majors Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) and Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) are among the European refiners that have resumed buying Iranian oil.

(Reporting By Julia Payne, editing by David Evans)