(Foundation for Defense of Democracies) David Adesnik - Iranian crude oil exports plunged rapidly in May to a historic low of less than 500,000 barrels per day and possibly as low as 250,000 barrels. In January 2013, at the height of sanctions prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian exports reached their previous low point of 600,000 barrels per day. By April 2018, exports had reached 2.8 million barrels. China sharply criticized the U.S. for ending the 6-month sanction waivers, yet the country's top state-owned refiners, Sinopec and CNPC, bought no Iranian oil for loading in May. While there are no acknowledged buyers of Iranian oil at the moment, vessel monitoring services have documented the departure of several tankers from Iran in May. Two of them delivered their cargo to Syria. The price of Brent crude has fallen by $12 per barrel, or 20%, since May 1, indicating that markets are adjusting well to the loss of the Iranian supply. The writer is director of research at FDD.
2019-06-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive