The United States Of America is likely to announce on Monday that all the import waivers to Iran will end shortly. A source familiar with the situation said that administration would also end all the sanction waivers it had given last year to some countries that import oil from Iran. The oil prices increased by 2% and reached its highest since Nov ‘18, and the Brent crude futures was at $73.77 for a barrel an increase of 2.5% and the WTI crude was at a price of $65.39 for a barrel a rise of 2.2%.
Mike Pompeo likely to announce the end of waivers
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Frank Fannon reiterated the position of the U.S. administration and said that ‘Our goal is to get to zero Iranian exports as quickly as possible.’
A leading columnist said that Mike Pompeo who is the Secretary of State said that he would announce ‘that, as of May 2 the State Department will no longer grant sanction waivers to any country that is currently importing Iranian crude or condensate’.
In November the sanctions on exports of oil from Iran was reimposed after President Trump declined a nuclear agreement with Iran and other countries. The U.S. in an effort to stop proxy wars with the Middle East and also to curb the Iranian nuclear program has been using all tactics to pressurize the country. Meanwhile, it had granted waivers to countries like India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea to continue importing oil but at reduced quantities without the countries facing any sanctions from the U.S. Now with the exemptions set to end these countries will be hit the most.
Oil prices rise
The big energy companies in the U.S. like Baker Hughes have reduced the oil rigs that are operating. Moreover, the OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries has reduced oil production to increase the crude oil prices, and now that the Trump administration is cutting supplies to the oil market from Iran, the prices are likely to soar higher. The rising prices indicate that Brent has increased by more than 30% and the WTI by 40% this year.
Stephen Innes head of trading at an asset management company said ‘The US chief Iran hawks indeed have the President’s ear as Pompeo and National Security Advisor Bolton are singularly focusing on bringing Iran’s economy to its knees, and predictably oil prices are rising.’
