Iran’s president says oil exports have doubled since August

Iran’s president says oil exports have doubled since August

AP NEWS- May 9th 2022

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president said Monday the country is exporting twice as much oil as when he took office in August, despite heavy sanctions on oil exports imposed by the U.S.

Ebrahim Raisi made the claim in a live interview on state-run TV without elaborating, including on the amount of oil being exported.

“Oil sales have doubled,” he said. “We are not worried about oil sales.”

Raisi’s remarks came as international markets are seeking alternatives to Russian crude following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions. Iran’s crude, with a similar composition to Russia’s grade, compete in the oil market.

As a result of the war and supply concerns, oil prices have surged to multi-year highs. International benchmark Brent crude nearly touched $140 in March, increasing the challenge of enforcing sanctions. Brent was trading over $105 a barrel on Monday.

The oil windfall has been a boon to Iran’s public finances. Iran says it’s now selling billions of dollars more crude than previously despite the American sanctions.

The Central Bank of Iran issued statistics at the start of February suggesting it made $18.6 billion in oil sales in the first half of this Persian year, as opposed to $8.5 billion the same period last year, according to the state-run IRAN newspaper. Much of that oil is believed to be heading to China. Venezuela also has received Iranian tankers at its ports.

Javad Owji, Iran’s oil minister, told local media in April that the country’s oil exports had surged by 40% since Raisi took office.

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