Iran ups oil revenues by 25%
Revenues from Iran’s crude oil exports in the six months from March 21-September 22 witnessed a considerable rise, said Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
Based on reports, Iran’s oil revenues were 25 percent more than the amount foreseen in the budget bill for the six-month period, Zanganeh said on Wednesday, reported Fars News Agency.
He referred to Washington’s looming embargos on Iran’s oil exports, and said, “We are trying to confront the cruel US sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran although we do not disclose our methods.”
In remarks on Tuesday, Zanganeh played down US President Donald Trump’s attempts to zero down Iran’s crude exports, warning that his threats would only inflame the market.
“Sustainable and stable supply of the crude needed by customers is a feature of Iran and no country has the capacity to replace Iran’s crude in the high-demanding global oil market,” Zanganeh said.
He underlined that Iran’s crude exports may not be stopped, adding, “Inflammation of the global oil market will continue until oil sanctions against Iran are removed.”
On Monday, Zanganeh warned of concerns in the market for inability to compensate for shortages after the US sanctions against Iran, calling on Trump to drop plans to impose embargos on Iran’s crude.
“As I have repeatedly said, there is no replacement for Iranian oil in the market. Oil production by Saudi Arabia and Russia is now at the highest level in history and the two countries do not have excess capacity for more production to replace Iran’s oil,” Zanganeh said.
He warned of the market’s concerns about the shortage of oil supplies after the US sanctions on Iran which have already hiked prices, saying that the economic growth of many consumer countries has also slowed down.
Zanganeh also said that NON-OPEC producers do not have the capacity to supply more oil, as they have been able to just increase their production 66,000 barrels a day between May and September.