Iran’s March crude exports to fall to lowest since sanctions kicked in

REUTERS: Iran’s crude oil exports i n March may plunge by a quarter from a month earlier to the lowest since tight Western sanctions came into effect in 2012, industry sources said, squeezing income for Tehran as sanctions cast doubt over its future revenues.

The fall may result in a revenue loss of about $1 billion for Iran, according to Reuters calculations based on current oil prices, just as the country’s parliament debates President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s spending proposals.

Tight Western sanctions imposed over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme have cut oil exports by more than half over the past year, resulting in a plunge in the rial currency.

The country passed a threemonth stop-gap budget at the weekend.

Iran’s customers will load 810,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in March compared with about 1.1 million bpd in February, according to an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter and a company that tracks the country’s crude shipments.

Excluding Turkey, the only European buyer of Iranian crude, Tehran’s top customers in Asia -- China, India, South Korea and Japan -- will load 703,000 bpd in March versus about 960,000 bpd a month earlier. The numbers are based on loading plans and the amount ultimately imported may vary.

The drop may be partly due to Indian refiners struggling to find insurance cover to process Iranian crude because of sanctions, as well as the seasonal shutdown of refining capacity elsewhere in Asia.

Europe and the United States last year introduced tough sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil trade to force Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a declared civilian atomic energy programme. Iran says its uranium enrichment work is for peaceful energy only.