Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Following imposition of new US sanctions against Iran in early November, the latter will likely have to sell its oil at a discount to global benchmarks in order to find new markets, Caroline Bain, Chief Commodities Economist at UK-based Capital Economics consulting company, told Trend on October 26.
“This will make Iranian oil attractive to smaller countries, particularly at the moment as prices are relatively high,” she said.
The expert added that after the impose of sanctions, China, India and Turkey will continue to import from Iran, but at a lower level.
“We will see fall of Iran’s share of world oil exports. The country’s production has already been slipping ahead of the November deadline. Exports have probably fallen by more,” Bain said.
She added that it is very difficult to get actual data on exports as Iran is taking steps to avoid its ships being tracked by the usual methods.
Bain also said that US President Trump is unlikely to achieve his goal of reducing Iran’s exports to zero but the country’s production may fall by 1 million barrels per day.
This May, Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's Nuclear Program. He promised not only to renew old sanctions against Tehran, but also to introduce new ones.
Part of the US sanctions, covering the automotive sector of Iran, deals on gold and other metals, was imposed on August 7. The second part, implying restrictions on the export of Iranian petroleum products, will come into force on November 5.
