Tehran turns downstream for sanctions solutions

摘要

Washington’s sanctions drive to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero has prompted Tehran to rethink its short-term oil sector priorities, resulting in it redirecting investment towards completing key crude and condensate refning projects. Iran’s liquids exports have plummeted in the two months since the US can- celled sanctions waivers for what remained of the Opec producer’s crude and condensate customers. And tracking its exports has become near impossible, as tanker transponders are regularly being switched of, but indications are that its shipments averaged less than 500,000 b/d in May and June. This is around half of the near 1mn b/d that it exported during the 2012-15 sanctions programme, and less than a ffth of its exports early last year, before President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal and reinstated unilateral sanctions.