Less than zero

摘要

Washington’s abrupt decision to end its Iran sanctions waivers has caught the global oil market by surprise for the third time in the past year,potentially cutting off 1mn b/d of Iranian crude exports to mostly Asian customers.The oil market had expected waivers to be renewed on 2 May,albeit at reduced volumes.Secretary of state Mike Pompeo acknowledged just last month the difficulty of enforcing zero exports given the Opec/non-Opec production agreement,US sanctions on Venezuela and the political crisis in Libya.