Iran Loses 2.7 Million Barrels Of Oil Daily From US Sanctions

In an interview with MSNBC, U.S
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said that Iran loses 2.7 Million barrels of oil
per day after the U.S decided to re-impose sanctions on all purchases of Iran’s
crude oil.

“We have managed to take almost
2.7 million barrels of crude oil off of the market, denying Iran the wealth to
create their terror campaign around the world, and we have managed to keep the
oil markets fully supplied,” Pompeo said.

“I am confident we can continue
to do that,” he added.

Refinitiv
Eikon
data shows that in July Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports dropped to
120,000 barrels per day. 

However, it would be difficult to
gauge Iran’s exports losses because official data is difficult to acquire. 

Hassan Soleimani, editor in chief of
IRGC-affiliated Mashregh newspaper, said the way Iran evades sanctions to “sell
our oil and how we move the money is now the country’s most vital and sensitive
information.”

According to OPEC’s secondary
sources, Iran’s July oil production was 2.21 million bpd. Iran’s average daily
production for all of 2018 was 3.55 million bpd. 

The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other producers have been cutting 1.2
million bpd since Jan. 1 to reduce global supply.

OPEC in July renewed the pact until
March 2020 to avoid a build-up of inventories as worldwide demand is seen
weakening.

OPEC has been working on curbing oil
production to avoid oversupply in the global market so the removal of Iran oil
in the market could help OPEC maintain competitive oil prices. 

Earlier this month, analysts warned
that “oil volatility is set to rise again” in the event China opts to purchase
oil from Iran in defiance of the latest round of U.S sanctions. 

According to Bank of
America, Merrill Lynch, oil prices could fall to $20- $30 per barrel if China
decides to buy Iran oil.  A Bank of
America researcher said that this retaliatory move could send oil prices into a
tailspin.