US Sanction Waiver for Iran Oil Imports Likely: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A US State Department official was quoted as suggesting that Washington could offer waivers to the countries importing oil from Iran, after US officials said that customers must cut their imports of Iranian crude to zero from November and that exemptions were unlikely.
The US is prepared to work with countries on a case by case basis to help them reduce imports of Iranian oil as Washington prepares to reimpose sanctions against Tehran in November, Reuters quoted a State Department official as saying on Thursday, suggesting the Donald Trump’s administration could offer waivers.
A senior State Department official said this week that countries will need to cut their imports of Iranian oil to zero from November and exemptions are unlikely.
“Our focus is to work with those countries importing Iranian crude oil to get as many of them as possible down to zero by November 4,” a State Department official told Reuters, adding, “We are prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case by case basis.”
Senior US officials visited Europe this week and will head to the Middle East and Asia later to pressure countries to reduce their oil supplies from Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said this week Europe has guaranteed that Tehran will be able to sell its crude.
“Europeans guarantee that Iran will be able to sell its oil, although Americans are considering their own measures in this regard (limiting Iran’s oil sales),” Zarif said on June 24.
A few days later, an informed official at Iran’s Oil Ministry told Tasnim that the US efforts to cut Iran oil exports will remain futile since removing the country's crude and condensate from global market is not an easy task in near future.
“This big claim (of cutting Iran oil supply) is not feasible because last month Iran exported 2.8 million barrels of crude oil and condensate per day. The figure stands at around 2.5 million barrels (per day), and removing this from the global market in a few month-period is not possible,” the Iranian official explained.
Meanwhile, an industry source familiar with Saudi Arabia’s oil production plans told Reuters on Tuesday that the kingdom plans to pump up to 11 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in July, the highest in its history, up from about 10.8 million bpd in June.
