Iran's resistance stiffens as US pressure grows
Minor incidents in and around the Gulf have failed to trigger a major conflict, but diplomats are struggling to ease tensions
An "evil maturity" of US sanctions has tightened around Iran, according to oil minister Bijan Zanganeh, making conditions worse than during the Iran-Iraq War. The government has limited options on the economic front, but the means to strike back diplomatically and militarily. Prior to the re-imposition of sanctions in November 2018, oil exports were running at about 2.7mn bl/d. April was the last month before the expiry of all US waivers, and Iran exported almost 1.2mn bl of crude and condensate, though some of this was delivered to storage. China took almost half of the total, India another quarter, and Japan, South Korea and Turkey the rest. In May, this was slashed to barely 0.5mn bl/d, v
Also in this section
21 February 2025
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
20 February 2025
Greater social mobility means increased global demand for refined fuels and petrochemical products, with Asia leading the way in the expansion of refining capacity
19 February 2025
The EU would do well to ease its gas storage requirements to avoid heavy purchase costs this summer, with the targets having created market distortion while giving sellers a significant advantage over buyers
18 February 2025
Deliveries to China decline by around 1m b/d from move to curb crude exports to Shandong port, putting Iran under further economic pressure
