US oil waivers end as Iranian crude exports slump in April.

Catogory : Market Report

Brent crude traded as high as $74.67 per barrel, although it later steadied to $74.12 on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. BRENT crude has surged to a fresh high in 2019 after the US scrapped waivers that allowed eight countries to make limited purchases of Iranian oil and Venezuelan exports fell. Iranian crude and condensate exports in March reached the most in seven months, at 1.65m barrels per day. Iranian-owned tankers have also engaged in ship-to-ship transfers and turned off AIS transponders in order to disguise export volumes, with estimates that shipments could have been as much as 1.9m bpd.China, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude, taking nearly half of all March shipments, has opposed the extended sanctions which aim to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero. South Korea and India the second and third largest buyers are trying to extend the May 1 waiver deadline after US President Donald Trump’s administration pledged on Monday to slash Iranian exports to zero. Source pointed out the potentially severe consequences of incurring the disapprobation of the US authorities. “There is absolutely no change in law here. All the administration has to do to achieve its goals is nothing. “Any shipowner, or anyone else involved in the transport of Iranian oil after May 2, could be subject to the full litany of US sanctions. The sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Co, now shipping most of Iran’s crude, includes as many as 38 very large crude carriers. Five VLCCS, four suezmaxes, a panamax and two aframax tankers were tracked loading Iranian crude or condensate. Six of these ships are destined for India and Turkey, while the destinations of others could not be determined.