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All tagged oil
◢ The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five companies based in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly shipping oil from Iran in defiance of President Donald Trump's unilateral sanctions. The sanctions mark a rare US action against firms in the UAE, a close ally of Washington in its campaign against Tehran.
◢ The U.S. lifted sanctions against a unit of China’s biggest shipping company that was accused of hauling Iranian crude in violation of American restrictions. The penalties had barred U.S. citizens and companies from dealing with the firms, effectively blocking them from American banks at the heart of the global financial system.
◢ The U.S. sanctioned four companies that it says have traded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals in its latest effort to clamp down on Iran’s revenue sources. All property and interests in the property of the designated companies are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
◢ Iran, hit by year-long US oil sanctions and recent protests over domestic fuel price hikes, retains a "strong voice" in the OPEC producing cartel which meets this week, analysts say. OPEC descends on its plush Vienna headquarters Thursday and Friday and is expected to maintain output cuts alongside its partners—or perhaps even go deeper.
◢ Iran imposed petrol rationing and raised pump prices by 50 percent or more on Friday, in a new move to cut costly subsidies that have fueled high consumption and rampant smuggling. Each driver with a fuel card will now have to pay 15,000 rials (13 US cents) per liter for the first 60 liters of petrol bought each month.
◢ Iran has discovered a new oil field containing 53 billion barrels of crude, President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday, a find that would increase Iran's proven reserves by over a third. The 80-meter deep field stretches nearly 200 kilometres from Khuzestan's border with Iraq to the city of Omidiyeh.
◢ Companies still doing business with a U.S.-sanctioned unit of China’s biggest shipping company have less than 60 days to wind down their transactions. The temporary reprieve comes after last month’s surprise announcement of sanctions against the Dalian units of China COSCO Shipping Corp.
◢ Iran's oil minister said Sunday that China's CNPC has withdrawn from the development of an offshore gas field and that state-owned Petropars will take over the entire project. The South Pars gas field was to be developed jointly by France's Total, China National Petroleum Corporation and Petropars under a $4.8-billion deal signed in July 2017.
◢ Iran said on Monday that it is on track to create a new oil terminal on the Sea of Oman that would open a new export route for its crude and allow tankers to bypass the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The National Iranian Oil Company signed a contract worth around $52 million Monday with three local companies to supply 50 pumps for the pipeline project.
◢ Oil-tanker costs are surging after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Chinese companies it accused of hauling Iranian crude, prompting a scramble in freight markets to secure alternative vessels. Rates for ships hauling 2 million-barrel cargoes of Middle East oil to Asia jumped 15% or more, according to brokers. Shares of tanker operators also gained.
◢ China on Monday urged the United States and Iran to "exercise restraint" after a drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure, which Washington has blamed on Tehran. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also said it was not responsible to accuse others "in the absence of a conclusive investigation or verdict.”
◢ Iran said it sold an oil cargo on board a contested tanker sailing the Mediterranean Sea but didn’t know where the vessel was going amid U.S. efforts to block delivery of the crude. The Adrian Darya 1, the tanker that the U.S. sought to seize in Gibraltar last week, was sailing more than halfway into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday without declaring any destination.
◢ Iran is about to burn a lot more fuel oil as a result of U.S. sanctions and new global shipping rules, reversing the nation’s progress in switching to cleaner-burning natural gas. Power plants and other industrial facilities will burn more than 200,000 barrels a day of highly polluting fuel oil next year, double the amount Iran used in 2018.
◢ Iranian officials on Friday denied that any assurances were given to Gibraltar to release an Iranian tanker now sailing on into the Mediterranean, calling it a "victory" for Tehran. "Iran has given no assurances over the Grace 1 not going to Syria to secure its release," the state broadcaster's youth website quoted foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying Friday.
◢ French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and reiterated his call for a de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States, the Elysee said. "It is France´s role to make every effort to ensure that all parties agree to a break and open negotiations," the French presidency said.
