Sanctions on Russian oil may cause problems for Iran: Analyst

A senior Iranian energy analyst says Russia may decide to increase its shipments of crude to China if it is threatened by Western sanctions because of a military conflict in Ukraine as he insists that such a decision may affect Iran’s growing supply of oil to independent buyers in the Chinese market.

“Definitely, Russians will try to ship their entire oil and gas to China and this can become problematic for us,” said Hamid Hosseini, a senior member of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union, on Saturday.

Iran has enjoyed higher sales of crude to China in recent months as private buyers in the East Asian country have ramped up purchases to enjoy discounts offered by Iran because of US sanctions.

Experts believe Iran will continue to supply high volumes of crude to Chinese refiners even after reaching an agreement with world powers on reviving its 2015 nuclear agreement.

Iran to reach maximum oil output 1-2 months after Vienna talks: Owji

Oil Minister Owji says Iran’s oil output will reach its maximum within 1-2 months from a deal in Vienna.

The revival would allow Iran to resume normal trade of crude more than three years after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Iran.

Hosseini said, however, that Iran would stand to benefit from potential restrictions on Russian energy supplies as he insisted that higher oil and gas prices that could be caused by those restrictions will boost Iranian hard currency revenues.

The analyst said Western sanctions on Russia may also cause Moscow to rely on Iran for trade of its crude products including for exports of fuel and petrochemicals.

He said, however, that a blanket ban on Russia’s oil and gas exports will be unlikely as it would have a huge impact on global energy supplies.

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